Decolonise your reading lists

Bibliodiversity applies the principles of cultural diversity to the fields of writing and publishing, highlighting the importance of having a broad spectrum of publications, perspectives, languages, formats, and publishing approaches to sustain a vibrant and balanced literary or scholarly environment. Originating in the late 1990s among Chilean publishers, the concept draws on the analogy of biodiversity: just as ecosystems rely on diverse species to flourish, the publishing landscape thrives when it includes a wide variety of voices and content.

Understanding these dynamics, as emphasized by the ACRL “Information Has Value” framework (ACRL, 2025), is vital for recognising why some voices remain underrepresented in academic discourse and for working towards greater equity in scholarly communication.

Research (both internationally and at the University of Plymouth) shows that where reading lists consider the diversity of the student body, student engagement is improved as well as the development of key graduate attributes (Adewumi et al., 2022). Small changes to your course material could have major impacts to the way students respond to the course. There are a number of ways you can consider diversifying your reading list, and you can approach your Information Specialist for help. They can provide training and teaching sessions that incorporate information and critical literacy and help to develop in students some of the attributes of the Plymouth Compass such as being a Sustainable and Global Citizen and Critical and Creative Learner.

University of the Arts, London have produced a short best practice guide to decolonising your reading list which includes some useful steps to take in order to question your reading list.

References:

Adewumi, B., Bailey, L.R., Mires-Richards, E., Quinlan, K.M., Agyeman, E., Alabi, A., Jeyasingh, M., Konadu-Mensah, C., Lavinière, W., Mighton, P., Shortridge, T., Thomas, D.S.P and Wassamba-Wabelua, N. (2022) ‘Cross-disciplinary, collaborative and student-led: developing a change process for diversifying reading lists’. London Review of Education, 20(1), 1–17. Available at: https://doi.org/10.14324/LRE.20.1.01

ACRL (2025), Companion Document to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education: Instruction for Educators. Available at: https://acrl.libguides.com/ed/value (Accessed 6 August 2025)