23rd chat, January 27 2015: residency programs and diversity in librarianship

moderated by @ACRL_RIG
Storify (pdf, html) by @ACRL_RIG

Topic: Residency programs aim to make academic and research librarianship more inclusive and diverse. Historically, residency programs were created to address a skills gap between LIS education and the specialized needs of academic and research libraries. Today, residency programs are often marketed as a “diversity initiative” of a library, citing a lack in racial and ethnic diversity within the profession. Sometimes their goal is to recruit and retain minority librarians; other times their goal is to experiment with new library services. This #critlib will consider residency programs within the broader effort to address the lack of diversity in librarianship.

Recommended reading: On the history and purpose of residency programs as they relate to the diversity of librarianship, we recommend this reading: Brewer, J. (1997). Post-Master’s Residency Programs: Enhancing the Development of New Professionals and Minority Recruitment in Academic and Research Libraries. College & Research Libraries, 58(6), 528–537. http://crl.acrl.org/content/58/6/528

Discussion questions:

• Q1. What does “diversity” mean in context of libraries and librarianship? #critlib
• Q2. What are some barriers preventing librarianship from becoming more inclusive and diverse? #critlib
• Q3. What are some challenges in diversity recruitment? How can we avoid stigmatization? #critlib
• Q4. How does a library residency/fellowship fit in the hierarchy of librarianship? Is this conducive to a diverse and inclusive workforce? #critlib
• Q5. What is needed to diversify librarianship? How might residencies play a role? #critlib