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

Abstract

The 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.美国的图书馆员绝大多数依然是白人。根据美国图书馆协会(ALA)2012年多元化计数调查，近88％的专业图书馆员为白人。随着美国人口更加多元化，图书馆界缺乏少数族裔，使得图书馆员越发无法代表他们所服务的人群。

一些大学图书馆试图通过创立图书馆员见习项目来增加图书馆员的多样性。这些计划针对新近毕业的图情(LIS)硕士生，试图通过部门轮岗让他们接触图书馆工作的不同领域，来增加他们的职业经验。许多这样的项目都着重招募来自少数族裔的LIS毕业生。

虽然见习图书馆员并不是一个新的想法，但它们正越来越受欢迎，最近成立的大学和研究图书馆协会(ACRL)多元化联盟就证明了这一点。该联盟(截至2018年)由37个北美大学组成，它们都致力于为来自少数族裔的新入行图书馆员提供见习的机会。 虽然对见习计划重燃的兴趣会产生怎样的影响还有待观察，但我们需要去了解过去和现在参与这个项目的人们有哪些经验。通过了解这些经验，我们可以明确的知道，任何考虑实施见习项目的图书馆都应该深思熟虑并且建立明确的目标。本文将概述美国图书馆见习项目的历史和现状，并讨论这些项目能够成功的关键因素，包括机构支持、指导、战略规划以及评估。