ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL N ews ■ N ovem b er 1998 / 779 THE WAY I SEE IT Recruiting the minority librarian The secret to increasing the numbers by Patricia Robles H istorically, racially and ethnically diverse peoples in the field o f librarianship have b een underrepresented. In spite of the call for action over the years to rem edy this situation, an d th e strides accom plished, th e n u m b er of minority librarians today remains low. ALA’s Office of Library Personnel Resources (OLPR) reports the following statistics for 1995- 96: 90.1% White, 3-8% Black, 3-85% Asian/Pa­ cific Islander, 2.6% Hispanic, and .4% American Indian/Alaskan Native.1 Kathleen de la Pena McCook reports that the Association for Library and Information Science Education’s figures for 1991-92 on the degrees awarded and the number of students enrolled in library schools haven’t changed much. Overall, gains in the num ber of diverse librarians have b een very slight: minorities represented 9-9% of the total library school enrollments for fall 1992 and 8.5% o f the total accredited library school graduates for 1991-92.2 W hether it is the ALA parent organization, library schools, librarian associations, or the indi­ vidual librarian, the library profession must ag­ gressively initiate and emphasize minority recruit­ ing efforts earlier, specifically at elementary and high school grades, and not as college undergradu­ ates or graduate-level students. Why are the numbers so low ? A literature review illustrates the serious commit­ m ent the profession has made in improving the num ber of minority librarians. Joyce C. Wright provides a good historical overview of minority recruitm ent efforts, listing a host o f internship programs, as well as scholarship opportunities, offered to minorities w h o w ish to p u rsu e librarianship. She describes internship programs at UCLA, SUNY at Stony Brook, and Ohio State University as just a few exam ples o f w hat has b ee n accom plished in this area o f minority re­ cruitment.3 Yet despite the many collaborative and varied efforts (including internship/scholarship incen­ tives) the profession is still overwhelmingly white and has remained so, despite the added emphasis o n minority recruitment over the past 20 or so years. So why are the numbers still low? Early recruitm ent is key The number of minorities represented in libraries and library schools is low because the profession is starting recruitment efforts too late. Not too late in terms of the library profession, but rather in the individual’s life. By the time a person enters gradu­ ate school, he or she already has a career goal in mind, so recruitment shouldn’t be as necessary at this point. Recruitment into the profession there­ fore must start well before the person is enrolled in an MLS program. Early recruitment as a means to increase the number of minority librarians should be explored and expanded more actively to attract diverse can­ didates to the profession. At the minimum, re- I About the author Patricia Robles is assistant librarian/multicultural services coordinator at California State University in Bakersfield, e-mail: pat_robles@firstclassl.csubak.edu mailto:pat_robles@firstclassl.csubak.edu 7 8 0 1 C&RL N ews ■ N ovem ber 1998 cruitment should begin at the high school level and, preferably, earlier. Children are exposed to libraries at an early age, particularly after they reach school age. As they progress through their schooling, libraries no rm ally b e c o m e an integral p a rt o f th e student’s education: library tours/visits, hom e­ work assignments, research papers, library pro­ grams (e.g., storybook time, seminars, summer reading, guest authors), etc. The profession must more aggressively take advantage o f the close tie betw een elementary an d secondary schools an d libraries in its re­ cruitment efforts. It is especially important that outreach to the underrepresented groups begin at this early age, since d ro p o u t rates am ong ethnic/racial groups continue to rem ain high and, regrettably, rise in the later grades. There­ fore, if th e p ro fe ssio n is to attract m inority students, outreach must begin early. Recruitm ent/retention strateg ies So w h a t can th e p ro fe ssio n d o to start this early recruitment? We can actively pursue the following strategies now being used for library school rec ru itm en t/re ten tio n an d aim these strategies at younger audiences, as well: • Publicizing the profession. Kriza Jennings, for­ merly o f the Association of Research Libraries’ program officer for diversity an d m inority re­ cruitment, says there are tw o major stumbling blocks related to recruitm ent into th e profes­ sion: 1) the lack of know ledge about library ca­ reers and (2) the stereotypical image of librarians and libraries. A concerted effort needs to be made to provide younger people (preschool through college) with accurate information.4 • Mentoring. Kathleen M. Heim and William E. Moen in their benchm ark O ccupational En­ try: Library a n d Information Science Students ’At­ titudes, Demographics a n d Aspirations Survey, dis­ co v ered that am ong m inority librarians, a li­ b rarian w as o n e o f th e m o st influential re a ­ sons he or she entered the field; a public librar­ ian a c c o u n te d for 10.9%, a sc h o o l librarian 9.9%, an d college librarian 8.7%.5 Their find­ ings further support Barbara D ew ey’s conclu­ sion that “students are primarily influenced to p u rsu e a career in librarianship by librarians themselves.”6 So beyond the mentoring incentives offered by library schools, w h en interacting w ith p a ­ trons, librarians as individuals should actively cultivate the idea that librarianship is a career to b e co n sid ered . This ty p e o f m en to rin g is m o re inform al th an th o se o ffered by library schools, bu t they can b e effective. • Career day. Almost all high schools (and most junior high and middle schools) have some type o f career day, as do all colleges an d u n i­ versities. The n um ber o f library schools have dw in d led in th e last few years, so it is so m e­ w h at difficult, if n o t im p o ssib le, for library school representatives/recruiters to participate in every career day event possible. Because of this, th e fo cu s fo r library sc h o o l recru iters should naturally b e o n college and university- level career days. How ever, I believe b o th li­ braries and individual librarians can and should m ake a greater effort to actively participate in th e career d ay activities at local elem en tary and secondary schools. The profession has clearly dem onstrated a com m itm ent to diversifying its ranks. Maybe n o w is th e tim e to refocus th e em phasis and begin recruitm ent efforts at an earlier stage in o n e ’s educational life; that is, at th e elem en ­ tary and high school grades. Notes 1. “D egrees an d Certificates A w arded by U.S. Library an d Inform ation Studies E duca­ tion Programs, 1995-1996.” American Library Association, Office for Library P ersonnel Re­ sources (Fall 1997). 2. Kathleen de la Pena McCook with Paula Geist. “Diversity Deferred: W here are the mi­ n o rity librarians?” L ibrary j o u r n a l (N ov 1, 1993): 35-38. 3. Jo y c e C. Wright. “R ecruitm ent an d re­ ten tio n o f m inorities in academ ic libraries: A plan of action for the 1990s.” Illinois Libraries 72 (1990): 621-625. 4. Kriza Jennings. “Advancing Diversity in the Library Profession: Developing the Action Agenda.” Presented to the ALA Board Novem­ b er 1, 1995. Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries, 1995. 5. Kathleen M. Heim and William E. Moen. Occupational Entry: Library a n d Information Sci­ ence students’ attitudes, demographics a n d aspira­ tions survey. Chicago: American Library Asso­ ciation, Office for Library Personnel Resources, 1989. 6. B a rb a r a I. D e w e y . “S e le c tio n o f librarianship as a career: im plications for re- cruitment.” J o u rn a l o f Education fo r Library a n d Inform ation Science 26 (1985): 16-24. ■