Recruiting diverse librarians: Residency programs as an entry point to the academic librarian profession in the United States

dc.contributor.authorDonaldson, Katherine S.
dc.date.accessioned2019-04-12T17:43:25Z
dc.date.available2019-04-12T17:43:25Z
dc.date.created
dc.date.issued2018
dc.description8 pages.en_US
dc.description.abstractThe profession of librarianship in the United States of America remains predominantly white. According to an American Library Association (ALA) Diversity Counts survey in 2012, nearly 88% of professional librarians identified as white. As the population of the United States becomes more diverse, this lack of representation of people of color in librarianship remains problematic as librarians are increasingly less representative of the populations they serve. Some academic libraries have attempted to address the lack of diversity in librarianship by creating librarian residency programs. These programs are aimed at recent graduates of MLS programs and are meant to provide them with professional level experience, often by exposing them to different areas of librarianship through departmental rotations. Many of these programs focus specifically on recruiting LIS graduates from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. While residencies are by no means a new idea, they are gaining in popularity, as demonstrated by the recent creation of the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Diversity Alliance, a group of 37 (as of 2018) North American universities that have committed to creating residencies specifically for early career librarians from underrepresented groups. While the impact of this renewed interest in residency programs remains to be seen, it is important to engage with the experiences of past and current residents. By engaging with these experiences, it becomes clear that any library considering undertaking a residency program should do so thoughtfully and strategically. This paper will give an overview of the history and present state of residency programs in the United States as well as discuss key components for these programs to be successful, including institutional buy-in, mentorship, strategic planning, and assessment.en_US
dc.identifier.citationDonaldson, Katherine S. (2018, August). Recruiting diverse librarians: Residency programs as an entry point to the academic librarian profession in the United States. Paper presented at the IFLA World Library and Information Congress, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. http://library.ifla.org/2223/en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1794/24505
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherInternational Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)en_US
dc.rightsCreative Commons BYen_US
dc.subjectlibrary residency programsen_US
dc.subjectlibrary employeesen_US
dc.subjectlibrarians of coloren_US
dc.subjectrecruitmenten_US
dc.subjectearly career librariansen_US
dc.titleRecruiting diverse librarians: Residency programs as an entry point to the academic librarian profession in the United Statesen_US
dc.title.alternative招募多元的图书馆员:将见习项目作为美国大学图书馆员职业的起点en_US
dc.typeOtheren_US

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