[iDiversity] Diversity issues in library programs and the profession

[JohnnyOtto at aol.com]

Interesting that this article seems to interpret "diversity" only in terms  
of race and ethnicity.
 
John Otto
 
 
 
 
In a message dated 12/4/2009 1:00:35 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
cyn at u.washington.edu writes:

 
 
 
From: Nancy Gershenfeld  



Passing along a  column from the newsletter "The Informed Librarian".  The 
profession as a  whole is aging, so the future is wide open.  This is, of 
course, not a  new issue in the least, but the point that the population as a 
whole in the  U.S. is continuing to shift in ethnic diversity heightens the 
disparity in the  profession. 
The article URL is 
_http://www.informedlibrarian.com/guestForum.cfm?FILE=gf0912.html_ 
(http://www.informedlibrarian.com/guestForum.cfm?FILE=gf0912.html)    
Informed Librarian Online -- Guest  Forum -- _www.informedlibrarian.com_ 
(http://www.informedlibrarian.com/www.informedlibrarian.com)    
Changing the  Face of Librarianship: Musings on Diversity
by Taryn  Resnick 

Recruiting and recruiting a diverse workforce has long  been a “hot-button”
 issue in librarianship. This issue nudged its way into my  consciousness 
while enrolled in the M.L.S. program at Queens College, City  University of 
New York, a public university in Queens, New York, the most  ethnically 
diverse county in the United States, according to the 2000 U.S.  Census. Looking 
at myself and my classmates, I realized what will come as no  surprise to 
anyone who works in a library: the majority of my classmates were  older, 
white, and female, a group that I myself fit into. Was there a strange  
disconnect in my newly chosen profession?  
Even the most cursory analysis of immigration and fertility data and other  
demographic trends reveals that the population of the United States is  
becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse, with rapid population  
gains over the past 20-30 years among racial/ethnic groups, such as 
Hispanics,  Asians/Pacific Islanders, and African-Americans, officially characterized 
as  minorities. According to the 2000 Census, already over one-quarter of 
the  current U.S. population is minority (1-3). Current trends are predicted 
to  continue by government, legal and scholarly experts, with the result 
that  minorities will challenge, and in many locations overtake (or already 
have  overtaken), the numerical superiority of the long-standing majority 
Caucasian  population (4,5). This shift in population patterns will be especially 
 pronounced in the younger segment of the population, which will more than  
double between 1995 and 2050, whereas the Caucasian youth population will  
decline (6).  
There is universal agreement that the present library workforce, as well as 
 library school enrollment, is overwhelmingly Caucasian and, as such, does 
not  reflect and accommodate the demographic characteristics of the general  
population. The American Library Association (ALA) reported in 2007 that 
89%  of professional librarians in the United States are Caucasian (7). 
Examining  enrollment statistics in ALA-accredited library schools, the source of 
the  library professional workforce, reveals a similar pattern of Caucasian  
preponderance that has not significantly shifted over the past 25 years. In 
 the most recent Association for Library and Information Science Education  
(ALISE) Report, showing 2003 enrollment, minorities accounted for roughly 
10%  of the total enrollment in library science master's programs, while 
comprising  nearly 30% of the general population (3).  
Within the profession itself, there has been extensive examination and  
debate about the lack of diversity in libraries. Perhaps because the rhetoric  
underlying the very concept of libraries has long emphasized them as the 
most  democratic of institutions, committed to providing service and resources  
without consideration for characteristics such as age, race, income, or  
ethnicity, our failings in this area appear all the more glaring. A number of  
mechanisms and programmatic responses have been put into place by various  
important library organizations and associations, such as ALA and the  
Association of Research Libraries (ARL), to resolve long-standing problems  that 
have prevented minorities from entering the library and information  science 
field or from progressing to positions of authority once they have  
entered.  
Can we unpick the challenges specific to minority recruitment and retention 
 from those facing libraries and librarianship in general? McCook and Geist 
 characterize librarianship as an "invisible profession" for minorities 
(8),  but how visible a career is it to the general population? The library 
science  field does face particular challenges in attempting to recruit 
minorities, but  many of those challenges are also much broader. The general public 
has little  comprehension of what librarians do, it is a relatively small 
field, is not  highly visible or prestigious, and salaries are low. 
Librarianship also  requires a graduate degree for professional status, which can be 
a  considerable obstacle. Significantly, Census data reveals that graduate  
degrees—any graduate degrees--are pursued by and awarded to several minority 
 groups (African-Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaskan 
Natives) at  rates far below their representation in the general population (9), 
indicating  problems far deeper than those of any one profession.  
In keeping with the demographic trends previously described, enrollment of  
minorities in colleges and universities has been increasing over the past  
thirty years, but this has not been reflected in library and information  
science program enrollments (1,10). Statistics from the National Center of  
Education Statistics illustrate that minorities are pursuing higher education, 
 but they are certainly not choosing library science. Library science was 
not  among the top ten professions for any of the U.S. Census Bureau 
designated  racial/ethnic minority groupings. For minority candidates with the 
skills and  interests that would be complemented by careers in library science, 
far more  lucrative and in-demand options such as information systems 
management,  engineering, and allied health professions easily win out (1), often 
in  corporations and other organizations that offer substantially higher 
salaries  and have much faster, more flexible recruitment processes in place 
(11).  Unfortunately for the future of librarianship, most of these statements 
also  still hold true with the word “minority” removed from them.  
The imperative to make library science accessible and attractive to a full  
range of candidates of all backgrounds is made even more urgent by one  
overriding characteristic of the current librarian workforce. Library science  
tends to be a second career, making librarianship an older profession. For  
example, since 1990 most individuals entering library school have been over  
thirty years old (3,7). Studies in 1999 and 2002 found that the majority 
(up  to 62%) of all librarians were between forty and sixty-four years old and 
4%  were over sixty-five, meaning that up to two-thirds of librarians now 
working  will be retiring within the next twenty years (12,13), causing a 
severe  shortage of librarians that will be further aggravated by critical 
shortfalls  in the numbers of candidates available to replace these retirees 
(13,14).   
There is undeniably a critical lack of diversity in professional  
librarianship. Addressing this issue requires profound commitment and  coordinated, 
ongoing, aggressive, large-scale outreach, public education, and  marketing 
efforts (8,15,16). Such actions inevitably expand beyond the  intended 
audiences and have broader effects, if the past is any guide.  Ideally, measures 
to increase diversity should strengthen librarianship  overall as a 
profession by making it more visible, flexible, and able to  encompass a full 
spectrum of voices and  views.

References 
    1.  Gandhi, S. Cultural diversity and libraries: reaching the  goal. 
Current Studies in Librarianship. 2000;24:55-65.  
    2.  Josey, EJ, Abdullahi, I. Why diversity in American  libraries. 
Library Management 2002;23:10-16.  <http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm> 
 
    3.  Saye, JD, Wisser, KM. Students. Library and Information  Science 
Education Statistical Report 2004. Chapel Hill: Association for  Library and 
Information Science Education, 2004.  
<http://ils.unc.edu/ALISE/2004/Students/Students.htm>  
    4.  Martin, RR. Changing the university climate: three libraries  
respond to multicultural students. Journal of Academic Librarianship.  
1994;20:2-9.  
    5.  Turock, BJ. Developing diverse professional leaders. New  Library 
World. 2003;104:491-498.  <http://www.emeraldinsight.com/0307-4803.htm>  
    6.  Jones, D. Demographic shifts call for cross-cultural  competence in 
library professionals. Leading Ideas 2000;12.  
<http://www.arl.org/diversity/leading/issue12/jones.html>  
    7.  Davis, DM, Hall, TD. Diversity Counts. Chicago: Office for  
Research and Statistics, Office of Diversity, American Library Association  
Education, 2007.  
<http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/diversity/diversitycounts/diversitycounts_rev0.pdf>   
    8.  McCook, KP, Geist, P. Diversity deferred: where are the  minority 
librarians? Library Journal. 1993;118:35-38.  
    9.  Lance, KC. Racial and ethnic diversity of U.S. library  workers. 
Library Journal. 2005;36:41-43.  
    10. McCook, KP, Lippincott, K. Library schools and diversity:  who 
makes the grade? Library Journal. 1997;122:30-32.  
    11. Raschke, GK. Hiring and replacement practices in academic  
libraries: problems and solutions. Portal: Libraries and the Academy.  2003;3:53-67. 
 
    12. Lynch, MJ. (March 2002) Reaching 65: lots of librarians will  be 
there soon. American Libraries. 2002;33:55-57.  
    13. Hewitt, JA, Moran, BA, Marsh, ME. Finding our replacements:  one 
institution's approach to recruiting academic librarians. Portal:  Libraries 
and the Academy. 2003;3: 179-189.  
    14. Wilder, SJ. The age demographics of academic librarians: a  
profession apart. Journal of Library Administration. 1999;28:37-48.   
    15. Kaufman, PT. Where do the next "we" come from? Recruiting,  
retaining and developing our successors. ARL. 2002;221:1-5.  
    16. St. Lifer, E, Nelson, C. Unequal opportunities: race does  matter. 
Library Journal. 1997;122: 42-46. 


Copyright 2009 by Taryn Resnick
About  the Author: 
Taryn Resnick has been a Resources Management Librarian and  faculty member 
at the Texas A&M University Medical Sciences Library in  College Station, 
Texas since 2004. After managing and administering basic  science research 
laboratories at two universities, her experience in academic  medicine, 
combined with a life-long love of reading, research, and locating  and organizing 
information, led her into medical librarianship. The underlying  principle 
of Taryn’s work in librarianship is providing access to information,  
primarily through the management of the overall life cycle processes for  
electronic resources. Her  research interests include the roles libraries play in the 
evolution of  scholarly communication, copyright, and technologies in a 
networked  world. 
Regards, 
Nancy 
Nancy  Gershenfeld 
Senior  Lecturer 
The Information  School 
ngersh at uw.edu 



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