Librarians’ image keeps minorities away from job - Tuscaloosa

MONTGOMERY | Librarians have long been portrayed as the little old white lady with her hair in a bun and glasses on a chain around her neck, “shushing" noisy people, but Deborah Lilton represents a more modern image.

In a profession that in fact has been largely white, Lilton is a black student at the University of Alabama who is pursuing a degree to become an academic librarian. She is one of a disproportionately small number of minorities entering a field that is trying to get past stereotypical images of the “bun lady."

“Until this perception is changed, people who would make fine librarians will undoubtedly choose another career choice," said Lilton, who decided to pursue her degree after teaching English as an adjunct faculty member.

According to a 2004 American Library Association study called “Diversity Counts," minorities are hardest to recruit. The study said that in 2000, there were 190,255 professional librarians, and 171,470, or 90 percent, were white, and 15,500, or 8 percent, were black. U.S. Census figures show whites made up about 70 percent of the population in 2000 and blacks about 13 percent.

“We need to do more work to attract individuals to the profession that actually look like the U.S. population because we want our profession to look like the people we serve," said Denise Davis, director of ALA’s office for research and statistics.

ALA president Leslie Burger agrees that it’s important to let young people know that the profession isn’t just for middle-aged white women.

“There may be some perceptions this isn’t a field that welcomes or encourages diversity," Burger said.

But efforts are being made by ALA and colleges to encourage minorities to pursue a library degree. ALA’s Spectrum project provides scholarships, fundraising, recruitment, mentoring, leadership and professional development for future minority librarians. It provides a one-year $5,000 scholarship and over $1,500 in professional development opportunities to students planning to attend an ALA-accredited graduate program in library and information studies.

“Since the public library is the people’s university, it needs to be not only physically accessible to everyone but culturally accessible as well," said Lilton, one of two Spectrum scholars at Alabama. “That means having professional people of color on staff."

She said librarianship as a career option should be introduced early in a child’s educational experience and that old stereotypes should be dispelled, with librarians of all races making an effort to become more visible in society.

Lilton said one barrier to minority recruitment is the lack of library and information science programs at historically black colleges and universities.

She said Clark-Atlanta University in Georgia had to shut down its MLIS program because of funding problems and decreased enrollment. North Carolina Central University at Durham, N.C., is the only historically black college with an ALA-accredited library program.

“If black students don’t encounter librarian as a career choice in undergraduate school, it is highly unlikely that they will consider it when choosing a course of study for graduate school," Lilton said.

Hispanics are increasing their numbers in libraries, with 6,164 in 2000, up by 206 from 1990, according to Census figures. Still, they represent only about 3.2 percent of all librarians while making up about 14 percent of the U.S. population in the 2005 Census.

Meiyolet Mendez, a Hispanic student in her last semester at Alabama, is one of two UA students with a scholarship from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Sciences that targets minority students for library school.

When Mendez needed help learning English after arriving in the United States 12 years ago, she went to her high school library and immersed herself in works by authors like Agatha Christie and William Shakespeare.

She said she decided to become an academic librarian -- one who works for a college or university -- because she wants to connect people with the campus resources that are available to them. She believes advertising library school through Hispanic and black student associations on college campuses will help spark interest.

“I think we’ll see an increase in people applying to library school if we do these things," Mendez said. “I think that we as minorities for the most part have different cultural backgrounds that may allow for different points of view."

She said opportunities for minorities in libraries are growing.

“Our school has a good distance education program where you can take online courses," Mendez said. “There are almost no barriers.

Source: Tuscaloosanews.com
By Amanda Thomas
The Associated Press
December 17. 2006 3:30AM

The Scientist: Special Issue: Diversity: Some Myths, and the Realities

There is an interesting new issue of the online journal The Scientist focusing on diversity as an issue of interest in scientific professions and education.

The Scientist: Special Issue: Diversity: Some Myths, and the Realities
http://www.the-scientist.com/newsletter/etoc/20061101_diversity.html

In this issue, there is a call to scientists to apply the scientific thought process to the issues and concerns of diversity and planning for diversity; concerns about the impacts of reverse-discrimination lawsuits; a toolkit highlight NIH resources for measuring the success of diversity programs; and much more. A very interesting read. (via Link)

ALA Diversity Counts Survey

American Library Association releases national study of diversity in library workforce.Confirms need for continued recruitment of people of color. Read Full Press Release, 10/12/06

DALLAS - Today the American Library Association (ALA) released "Diversity Counts," a comprehensive study of gender, race and age in the library profession.

Using 1990 and 2000 Census data (the most current available), the study found that the nearly 110,000 credentialed librarians were predominantly ages 45 - 54, female and white. The number of racial and ethnic minorities receiving accredited library master's degrees (MLIS) grew 4 percent, up to about 13 percent in 2000 from 9 percent in 1990.

Diversity Counts Report

Film: What's Race Got to Do with It? Social Disparities and Student Success.

How do students feel about diversity and race on college campuses? A group of diverse students from U. C. Berkeley talk about their experiences in What's Race Got to Do with It? Social Disparities and Student Success. Students realize that the campus life experience of their peers differ through honest conversation and exercises. This film would benefit any student and, hopefully, it would open lines of communication here on campus.

Check out California Newreel's website for more about the film, critical comments and additional resources. California Newsreel: What's Race Got to Do with It?

Find it at the UConn Libraries, HOMER Catalog

(Source: via link)

November 2006 Author Talk: Building on Student Diversity

Description: Joy R. Cowdery, Linda Ingling, Linda E. Morrow, and Vicki A. Wilson of the Muskingum College Education Department talk about their newly published textbook, Building on Student Diversity: Profiles and Activities. Their book includes profiles and cumulative folders of six diverse children used to help students learn about diversity in the classroom. Activities in the book help teacher candidates recognize and understand a wide range of cultures and abilities, design instructional activities and assessments that meet the needs of all students, and communicate with families.

Full Story

Source: Muskingum College Library Podcasts