ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 594 / C&RL News ■ O ctober 2003 THE WAY I SEE IT It’s not just the right thing to do by Harold Goss Jr. I t is a troubling reality that our current librarian ranks do not represent the communities served by libraries. Data collected by the Office for Re­ search and Statistics in 1998 indicate that 87 per­ cent of both academic and public librarians are white, and the most recent data collected on school librarians by the National Center for Education Statistics (1993-94) show that 90 percent are white. ALA’s Office for Human Resources Devel­ opment and Recruitment’s analysis of statistics from the Association for Library and Information Science Education indicates that graduates from ALA-accredited MLS programs from 1991 to 1997 range from 88 to 92 percent white, with the 1997 to 1998 (the latest available data) class being 89 percent white. Because diversity is a value and key action area of ALA and recruitment is the shared responsibil­ ity of our profession, recruitment for diversity to librarianship strengthens the design and delivery of library and information services to the corre­ sponding diverse population of users and poten­ tial users of libraries in the new millennium.1 Why should we be concerned about a cultur­ ally diverse workforce? Why is it even an issue? Librarians are retiring faster than new one’s are graduating. Why do we care what color the new librarians are or what culture they represent? There are the social implications. Society tells us it’s the right thing to do. As stated above, ALA says it’s a value and key action area. Why? It’s the right tiling to say at administrative meetings. Then there are the legal reasons. Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity plans keep most orga­ nizations honest. They’ve got to at least appear to be concerned with their hiring practices as they relate to minorities. That is all wonderful, but I think there is an even more fundamental reason we should make diversity a priority. It’s good for business. It’s good for business in the private sector and I submit it’s good for business in our profession. In a nutshell, that is what this article is about. I’ll touch on a few reasons why diversity is a good tiling and then highlight a few activities libraries can do to make progress. The case for diversity It has been stated that different opinions offered by diverse groups make for better-quality deci­ sions. The library profession is about ideas, inno­ vation, and making decisions that best meet our patrons’ needs. We claim to be on the cutting edge of technology. We talk about digitization, user education, and improving customer service. All ideas. In fact, one study found that over time, ideas produced by ethnically diverse groups were judged to be of higher quality than ideas produced by a homogenous group.2 If this premise holds true, then diversity must be a priority. It has also been found that a diverse workforce will tend to attract more female and minority job applicants. One study found that 16 percent of respondents looked at a diverse workforce as a About th e autho r I Harold Goss Jr. is resident at Auburn University's Ralph Brown Draughon Library, e-mail: gosshar@auburn.edu Diversity mailto:gosshar@auburn.edu C&RL News ■ O ctober 2003 / 595 key indicator of a company’s commitment to di­ versity. One-third of respondents indicated they eliminated a company from employment consid­ eration because of a lack of gender or ethnic di­ versity. So right off the bat we could be losing people because they don’t see a diverse workforce when they walk into our libraries and meet the employees. The fart that Auburn University (AU) doesn’t employ a faculty that looks like the population makes it difficult to sell to African American pro­ fessors and librarians as a place to work. I’m sure this is true of many academic libraries. According to 2000 U.S. Census Bureau statistics, African Americans make up 26 percent of the population in the state of Alabama and 12.3 percent of the U.S. population. Our profession looks nothing like our population. We are missing the mark at the entry level and the numbers at the management level are even more disturbing. According to 2000 Association of Research Libraries statistics, Afri­ can Americans were represented at 3.7 percent in the management ranks. We can do better! One study reported that 44 percent of the African Americans surveyed eliminated employ­ ers from consideration because of their lack of ethnic diversity. Even more telling, almost half of African American candidates won’t even con­ sider an organization if they don’t see diversity. What does this mean? We’ve got to not only hire minorities who are interested, we’ve got to keep them to attract future candidates. Only then will those minority candidates on the fence feel comfortable. The fix The way I see it, AU Libraries is definitely moving in the right direction. It is one of several universi­ ties around the country with a minority residency program. Speaking from firsthand experience—it works. Had AU not offered this unique opportu­ nity, I probably would not have considered them as a place to begin my career. The residency program provides an excellent opportunity for the early professional. The expo­ sure is wonderful for the individual, but the po­ tential benefit for the host university is clear. Yes AU is doing a wonderful thing for the profession as a whole, but AU is also creating an in-house pool of candidates for future tenure-track positions. One of AUs goals is to fill future tenure-track positions with qualified African American candi­ dates, and this program is one of the most effec­ tive tools at AU’s disposal to do just that. The emphasis on diversity will not just help with recruiting, but will also enhance reten­ tion efforts. Speaking from experience, I am much more comfortable working in an envi­ ronment with people of a diverse background. There are definitely other activities that can attract minority candidates into the profession. In 1997 ALA established the Spectrum Initia­ tive, a national diversity and recruitment ef­ fort designed to address the specific issue of underrepresentation of ethnic librarians within the profession while serving as a model for ways to bring attention to larger diversity is­ sues in the future. The University of Rhode Island started the Prism Fellowship program, which gives future professionals from underrepresented groups work experience and library school tuition. The University of Arizona has had success with its Peer Information Counseling program. They recruit undergraduate minority and in­ ternational students and provide them with technology training. The students are also trained to do a number of tasks, including instruction, presentations, and reference. Many o f these students wouldn’t have been exposed to our profession without this program. Conclusion So let’s stop talking about diversity and let’s do something about it. If diversity is an issue at your institution and progress isn’t being made, then try one of the ideas mentioned here. All of these programs are important and must continue until our profession looks like the communities we serve. Our business is to provide the best service possible to the faculty, staff, and students at the institutions that employ us. We can best do that with a dynamic, out-front, diverse workforce. The way I see it, we’ve got a problem and there are steps we can take to fix it. Not only is it the right thing to do, it’s good for business. References Cox, T. Cultural Diversity In O rganizations: Theory, R esearch, a n d P ractice. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 1994. Escobar, Hector. “Four Years of Progress: The Spectrum Initiative Leads On. ” A m erican Librar­ ies (August 2002): 16-17. Leonard, Bill. “Diverse Workforce Tends to At tract More Female and Minority Job Applicants.” HR M agazine. (April 2001): 27. (co n tin u ed on p a g e 6 0 5 ) C&RL N e w s ■ O c to b e r 2 003 / 605 2003-04 ACRL chapter conferences/events C h a p te r D a te Description o f Eve n t L o c a tio n New Oct. 17, 2003 NMLA Mini-Conference: “Libraries: Weaving the Gallup Mexico Fabric o f Community” Apr. 2 1-23, 2004 2004 Annual Conference: “Libraries: H ie Wow! Las Cruces Factor” Eastern Oct. 10, 2003 “2003: A Library Space Odyssey” Utica New York Metro Nov. 21, 2003 “Operation Intellectual Freedom: Librarians on Baruch College New York the Front Line” Western Oct. 17, 2003 2003 Fall Conference: “The Current State o f Ontario New York/ Information Literacy” Ontario Ohio Nov. 14, 2003 2003 Annual Conference “Information, Dublin Innovation, Inspiration Making the Connection” Oklahoma Nov. 14, 2003 2003 Fall Conference: “Creativity in the Oklahoma Workplace: How to be Your Creative-Best in State Today’s Challenging Information Environment” University Oregon/ Oct. 2 3 -2 4 , 2003 2003 Fall Conference: “Changing Needs, Changing Pack Forest, Washington Roles: Redefining and Promoting the Academic Washington Library” South Oct. 1 5-18, 2003 2003 Annual Conference: “Creative Partnering” Sioux Falls Dakota Utah May 5-7, 2004 ULA Annual Conference Ogden Wisconsin Oct. 2 8-31, 2003 WLA Annual Conference Milwaukee Apr. 2 1 -2 3 , 2004 WAAL Annual Conference Elkhart Lake ( “Diversity ” continuedf rom p ag e 595) McLeod, P. L., Lobel, S. A., and Cox, T. H. Jr. “Ethnic Diversity and Creativity In Small Groups.” Small Group Research (1996) 27: 246-64. Norlin, Elaina. “University Goes Back to Ba­ sics to Reach Minority Students." Am erican Li­ braries (August 2001): 60-62. Richard, Orlando. “Racial Diversity, Business Strategy, and Firm Performance: A Resource- Based View. ” Academy o f Managem ent Journal 43 (2): 164-77. Wilder, Stanley. “The Demographics o f Li­ brary Leadership.” Human Resource Management Symposium 2002. www.arl.org/training/institutes/ hrppt/wilder.htm. Notes 1. See www.ala.org/spectrum. 2. P. L. McLeod, S. A. Lobel, and T. H. Cox Jr., “Ethnic Diversity and Creativity In Small G ro u p s,” Sm all G roup R esearch (1 9 9 6 ) 27: 2 4 6 -6 4 . ■ http://www.arl.org/trairmg/institutes/ http://www.ala.org/spectrum