Teresa Y. Neely and Lorna Peterson
Achieving racial and ethnic diversity
among academic and research librarians
The recruitment, retention, and advancement of librarians of color—
A white paper
A
t the 2006 ALA Midwinter Meeting in San
Antonio, the ACRL Board of Directors
outlined the focus of a white paper using the
2002 ACRL white paper Recruitment, Reten-
tion and Restructuring: Human Resources
in Academic Libraries as a guide.
1
The pro-
posed white paper would focus primarily on
“workforce diversity, with an emphasis on the
recruitment, retention, and advancement of
groups traditionally underrepresented in the
academic library workforce.” The Board also
specified the white paper should:
• discuss efforts to promote, develop, and
foster workforces that are representative of a
diverse population, and
• address the development of a climate in
the workplace that supports and encourages
advancement.
The growing labor gap in librarianship,
a result of an “increasing demand for library
and information science professionals, and
a declining supply of qualifi ed individuals,”
provided the framework for the 2002 white
paper. It also included a review of the en-
vironment at that time and strategies for the
“recruitment, retention, and the potential for
[the] restructuring of library education and the
library workforce.” The 2002 white paper did
not address diversity specifically, but dealt
with the broader recruitment, retention, and
restructuring issues.
Racial controversy in the United States pro-
vides a backdrop for the issue of recruitment
by race and ethnicity within the profession of
librarianship. Additionally, the research litera-
ture reveals a historical shortage of librarians.
The current environment for the recruitment,
retention, and advancement of people of color
in academic librarianship remains virtually
unchanged since the appearance of the 2002
white paper. The published professional and
research literature provides some insight into
the barriers to recruitment and reasons why
librarianship is a chosen career path.
For decades, advocates for increased racial
and ethnic representation in the profession
of librarianship have relied primarily on U.S.
Census data and subsequent statistical data
as justification for the goal to increase ethnic
diversity in the library workforce. A more re-
alistic agenda for recruitment and retention is
needed by the profession at large, and ACRL
in particular.
Accompanied by specific goals with justi-
fication, preferably empirically based and/or
logically determined, a revised agenda should
address not only the library profession, but
also the communities being served. This is not
to say that demographics are not key, however,
the agenda should be grounded in strategic
goals. In 1996, Camila A. Alire wrote: “[All of
this is further translated into] a need for more
minority library professionals who can identify
with people in the minority communities; who
can assist in the necessary outreach efforts to
serve those minority residents; and who can
serve as role models for minority children
using the library.”
2
John W. Berry’s 2002 ALA
Teresa Y. Neely is director of Zimmerman Library at the
University of New Mexico, e-mail: neely@unm.edu, and
Lorna Peterson is associate professor at the University
at Buffalo, e-mail: lpeterso@buff alo.edu
© 2007 Teresa Y. Neely and Lorna Peterson
C&RL News
October 2007 562
Presidential Message
3
echoed this when he
reminded us that in order for the profession
to serve the increasingly diverse communities,
we must build a workforce that refl ects that
diversity. The goal for recruitment should be
broadened beyond the emphasis on increasing
numbers to match the demographics of the
U.S. population to focus strategically on in-
creasing diversity in order to serve the diverse
communities libraries serve. Careful and ap-
propriate consideration and acknowledgement
should be given for the successes and gains
realized thus far in the profession, but within
the context of specific strategic aims.
The following recommendations are a
result of a review of the literature that builds
on the 2002 white paper, with a particular
focus on empirically supported solutions,
from the broader recruitment and retention
literatures, and the literature on advancement
where available.
Recommended goals for recruitment
One recruitment goal is to develop a compre-
hensive, collaborative (among all stakeholders)
recruitment and public awareness campaign
for recruitment purposes. A collaborative,
cohesive, holistic approach to harnessing
the available information and resources on
recruitment and retention and opportunities
for advancement is recommended. A pro-
fession-wide concerted effort will eliminate
duplication and channel all efforts through
one resource. There are several recruitment
Web sites cited in the literature, however,
none of these have achieved profession-wide
acceptance or appear to have impacted recruit-
ment efforts.
Disvocernursing.com provides a fully
developed, functional, and proven successful
model that can be adopted by the profession
of librarianship. LIS organizations should
collaborate on the effort to develop such a
source which includes the creation of one
online comprehensive resource accompanied
by print, radio, and television advertisement/
recruitment spots.
In addition to the recommendation to con-
tribute to the development of this resource, it
is recommended that ACRL develop a research
October 2007 563
C&RL News
ALA’s Office for Diversity recently an-
nounced the recipients of its 2007 Diversity
Research Grants.The 2007 recipients will
be presenting their research at a program
during the ALA 2008 Annual Conference in
Anaheim, California.
The 2007 grant recipients are:
• Karen E. Downing, foundation and
grants librarian at the University of Mich-
igan’s Hatcher Graduate Library, for her
study “The Relationship Between Social
Identity(ies) and Role Performance Among
Academic Librarian.”
• Mark Winston, associate professor at
University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel
Hill School of Information and Library Science,
and Allison Rainey, MLIS student at the UNC-
Chapel Hill School of Information and Library
Science, for their project on (re)envisioning
diversity and multicultural librarianship and
pedagogy in the post 9/11 context.
• Allison M. Sutton, assistant professor
and psychology and social work subject
specialist, University of Illinois at Urbana-
Champaign Library for her project “Archival
and Grey Literature Use Patterns in Library
and Information Science Journal Articles
with a Focus on the African American Ex-
perience (1986–2006).”
Diversity Research Grants consist of a
one-time $2,000 annual award for original
research and a $500 travel grant to attend and
present at ALA’s Annual Conference.Topics
for the 2008 Diversity Research Grants will
be announced during the ALA Midwinter
Meeting in Philadelphia and will be posted
on the Office for Diversity Web site Febru-
ary 1, 2008. For more information on the
Diversity Research Grants, please visit the
ALA Office for Diversity’s Web site at www.
ala.org/diversity or contact Karen Letarte at
(312) 280-5020 or kletarte@ala.org.
ALA awards 2007 Diversity Research Grants
agenda that addresses the lack of membership
data for decision-making and goal setting. This
research agenda could include the follow-
ing strategic goals for recruitment within the
membership framework:
• The identification, creation and/or de-
velopment, implementation, and replication
of best practices for recruitment accompanied
by sound empirical evidence with results, out-
comes, and indicators for success. ACRL has
distinguished itself as a leader in developing
standards and guidelines and, most recently,
in leading the effort to identify/develop best
practices for information literacy so there is
precedent for leading the effort for recruitment.
The profession and ACRL must develop and
implement a research agenda that builds on
proven methods, as well as supports creativity
and initiative in scholarship aimed at address-
ing critical gaps in the recruitment literature,
particularly for race and ethnicity.
• Realistic goals for assessment and analysis
and clearly stated standards and expectations
not necessarily grounded in the demographics
of the U.S. population. The most recently cited
statistics reveal minority representation in the
U.S. population at approximately 30 percent in
2000, with the number for minority representa-
tion in the profession lagging behind.
4
The pro-
fession overall, and ACRL in particular, must
develop and implement a research agenda that
supports realistic strategic goals for addressing
recruitment and retention objectives.
• The creation, gathering, and mainte-
nance of reliable and accurate data for the
profession overall and for academic librarians
in particular. “Although we may never have
accurate total numbers of minority profession-
als in LIS, tracking the enrollment fi gures and
graduation rates over time may provide us with
a better picture of how many individuals of
color are matriculating.”
5
The Future of Librar-
ians in the Workforce is a national research
study funded by the Institute for Museum and
Library Science (IMLS) and headed by José-Ma-
rie Griffiths, dean of the School of Information
and Library Science at the University of North
Carolina-Chapel Hill. This study has signifi cant
potential and could provide the appropriate
empirically driven data needed to accomplish
broad-based recruitment, retention, and ad-
vancement goals.
A look back at the strategies for recruitment
put forth by the 2002 white paper fi nds there
has been some action, but there has not been
a comprehensive review of the progress to
date. Other recommendations and fi ndings
in this paper can be aligned with many of
those from the 2002 white paper to begin the
framework for a strategic research agenda.
It is also recommended that ACRL take the
next step in comprehensively assessing those
outcomes.
Recommended goals for retention
The literature on retention of minorities in
academic librarianship is weak and close to
nonexistent. The 2002 white paper also ac-
knowledges the lack of research on retention
in librarianship. Retention strategies do exist
in the literature, but there is little longitudi-
nal research to confirm the success of such
strategies.
The 2005 IMLS grant won by principal in-
vestigator Joanne Marshall, “Workforce Issues
in Library and Information Science (WILIS)”
6
may be able to provide the data needed on
librarianship in general. Retention strategies
include:
• orientations and welcomes;
• programming that addresses work culture
issues and is presented in a nonthreatening,
more social activity, way;
• opportunities for professional develop-
ment;
• positive environment, honoring of em-
ployee values, opinion, and voice;
• compensation and rewards;
• good management; and
• recognition of work-life balance needs.
Recommended goals for advancement
Advancement as a concept was not addressed
in the 2002 white paper. If advancement in
the field is related to leadership, then there
is no lack of literature regarding leadership, a
leadership crisis, and descriptions of the insti-
tutes, programs, and fellowships developed to
C&RL News
October 2007 564
create library leaders. Library workers: Facts
and figures fact sheet 2005
7
by the AFL-CIO
Department for Professional Employees looks
at the numbers of librarians and library work-
ers for 2004 and projected to 2012 and sees a
trend of “‘deprofessionalization’: Work once
performed only by librarians is now performed
by support staff.” Regarding advancement, the
report makes this comment: “While the distri-
bution of positions within the minority and
white populations appears to be growing more
similar, differences certainly remain, especially
in the managerial positions.” Some ideas for
supporting advancement include:
• mentoring and grooming—from a review
of the literature on advancement and creating
an environment conducive to advancement in
academic libraries, mentoring is consistently
cited as an ingredient for successful leadership
development;
• shadowing leaders;
• proactive nominations for awards and
recognitions;
• job rotations; and
• participation in fellowships and insti-
tutes.
Recommendations for promoting advance-
ment of minorities beyond entry level posi-
tions are:
• track assistant director/director/dean
positions of academic libraries;
• track available leadership pools of minor-
ity candidates;
• develop statistical and data reports
that can serve as the foundation for further
research; and
• institute a system of accountability re-
garding the retention and advancement of
underrepresented groups in libraries.
Recruitment to the profession, retention
of qualifi ed diverse professionals, and a need
to create opportunities for and support the
advancement of those professionals are not
concerns new or unique to librarianship.
8,9,10,11
Although the current environment for recruit-
ment, retention, and advancement of people
of color in academic librarianship remains
virtually unchanged since the appearance
of the 2002 ACRL white paper, methods and
strategies for addressing the issue seem to
be evolving. Additionally, the reasons for the
issues remaining relevant seem to be chang-
ing, as well.
Notes
1. ACRL Personnel Administrators and
Staff Development Officers of Large Research
Libraries Discussion Group, Recruitment, re-
tention, and restructuring human resources
in academic libraries: A white paper (Chicago:
ACRL, 2002).
2. Camila A. Alire, “Recruitment and retention
of librarians of color,” Creating the future: Essays
on librarianship in an age of great change, ed.
S. G. Reed, 126–43 (Jefferson, North Carolina:
McFarland & Co., 1996).
3. John W. Berry, “Addressing the recruit-
ment and diversity crisis,” American Libraries
33 (2002): 7.
4. K. Hipps, 2006, “Diversity in the U.S. ARL
library workforce,” ARL: A Bimonthly Report on
Research Library Issues and Actions from ARL,
CNI, and SPARC (246): 1–2.
5. Teresa Y. Neely, “Minority student recruit-
ment in LIS education: New profiles for success,”
Unfinished business: Race, equity and diversity
in library and information science education,
ed. M. Wheeler, 93–117 (Lanham, MD: Scare-
crow Press, Inc., 2005).
6. J. G. Marshall, 2005. Workforce issues in
library and information science (WILIS), IMLS
Grant, Unpublished document.
7. AFL-CIO Department for Professional
Education, 2005, Library workers: Facts and
figures, fact sheet 2005.
8. S. L. Bowie and H. Hancock, “African
Americans and graduate social work education:
A study of career choice influences and strate-
gies to reverse enrollment decline,” Journal of
Social Work Education 36 (3): 429–448.
9. J. K.Thornton, “African American female
librarians: A study of job satisfaction,” Journal of
Library Administration 44 (1/2): 141–64.
10. Neely, Unfi nished business.
11. P. I. Buerhaus, and K. Donelan, B. T.
Ulrich, L. Norman and R. Dittus, “State of the
registered nurse workforce in the United States,
Nursing Economics 24 (1): 6–12.
October 2007 565
C&RL News