The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) is moving forward with a taxpayer-funded event titled the “BIPOC-Centered Library Staff Unconference,” scheduled for May 20, 2025, at Olbrich Gardens in Madison. Promoted as a free, day-long gathering for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) working in Wisconsin public libraries, the event has drawn criticism for its race-based framing and selective audience.
Organized under the Wisconsin Libraries IDEA Project and funded in part through a federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the event aims to “center and uplift the experiences of BIPOC library workers.” Sessions will include topics such as tribal and indigenous libraries, BIPOC-centered mental health, workplace culture, and building a statewide BIPOC support network.
Though DPI has since claimed the event is “open to all,” that clarification is absent from official promotional materials, including the event website and registration form. The registration process asks attendees to identify their race, and the program narrative is explicitly framed around shared racial experiences.
In response, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed a federal Title VI complaint with IMLS, alleging the event constitutes unlawful racial discrimination in a federally funded program. WILL argues the event runs afoul of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision, which prohibits the use of race as a determining factor in public programming.
“This is not inclusion—it’s exclusion under the guise of equity,” said Cory Brewer, WILL’s Education Counsel. “Taxpayer-funded programs must serve all citizens equally, not divide them by race.”
The controversy unfolds as DPI faces broader scrutiny for failing to certify compliance with federal civil rights standards, a condition tied to continued receipt of federal education funds. WILL’s complaint also cites a pattern of race-exclusive programming under DPI’s “Wisconsin Libraries Talk About Race” initiative, which uses public resources to support affinity-based training.
The event and its surrounding policies may now face heightened legal and political attention, as federal agencies weigh their obligations under Title VI and recent executive directives opposing divisive or discriminatory programming in public institutions.
