Strides have been made since 1995, but LIS has a way to go to make librarianship look like the general population It is widely acknowledged that the library profession is overwhelmingly white. Few candidates of color are attracted to the field. Changes in the field since 1995 - both positive and negative - have influenced the number of librarians and information professionals from underrepresented racial and ethnic cohorts. An official of one library and information studies (LIS) program accredited by the American Library Association (ALA) recently said that they didn't need to recruit because they already have a record number of applicants for admission. "The students come to us," the dean said. That program is located in an area with a very high concentration of Latinos. It has a poor record of recruiting Latinos. America has a history of both race consciousness and racism. Librarianship's whiteness impacts the publics we serve. When people of color do not see themselves represented in libraries, they may not approach the librarians. They may not even approach the library. The effect of these disparities on librarians of color has often been overlooked. For example, for every Latino public, academic, and school librarian, there are about 9,177 Latinos in the population. For every white, non-Latino librarian, there are only 1830 white non-Latinos in the population. This disparity means that whites have five times more opportunity to find a librarian with roots in their culture than Latinos. There are not enough librarians of color to serve on all the acquisitions, personnel, and policy committees where they are needed to help library service reflect deeper cultural, linguistic, and racial understanding.

More than a buzzword

Library leaders now agree that staffing libraries for diversity will benefit the whole community. The acknowledgement by the library establishment that diversity is more than a buzzword is the most significant positive change in the profession. Two initiatives to increase diversity in the profession stemmed from this view: ALA's Spectrum Scholarship and the Knowledge River at the School of Information and Library Resources (SIRLS) at the University of Arizona, Tucson [see "Knowledge River ," p. 55]. Pitted against these positive changes are challenges to diversifying the profession. The closing of the School of Library and Information Studies at Clark Atlanta University, a historically black university, dealt a serious blow to future diversity efforts. The length, location, and inflexibility of many graduate LIS programs also influence minorities to shy away from librarianship. The number of graduates of color from LIS programs has increased slightly, but the profession still has a long way to go before library employers will find enough candidates to allow their staffs to be as diverse as the general population. Communities of color will not automatically be drawn to the library profession, or even know about it, simply because they can see the lack of diversity in their libraries. There is a mandate to diversify, and the lack of diversity is a wake-up call to recruit, recruit, recruit.

Two keys to diversity

The ALA Spectrum Scholarships began in 1997 with an initial funding base of $1.5 million. The funds were used to support both scholarships and programs. Spectrum scholars are chosen from the four "protected minority" categories recognized by the U.S. Equal Opportunity Act: African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, and Native American. Spectrum provides a $5000 scholarship to selected scholars, often augmented or matched by the LIS programs and library associations. The program was created to increase diversity enrollment. Between 1998 and 2003, 226 Spectrum Scholarships were awarded. Spectrum scholars were also provided with free registration at the ALA annual conference, the means to attend diversity and leadership seminars, and considerable networking experience with library leaders and each other. The goals of the Knowledge River Initiative are to increase minority representation in the profession by recruiting Latino and Native American students into the SIRLS program at the University of Arizona, provide them with culturally sensitive education, and allow them to focus on projects and services relevant to their communities. Knowledge River, funded by a 2001 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, recruited its first class in 2002. In January 2003, there were 39 Latino and Native American students enrolled in the master's program, augmented by the second class, recruited in 2003.

Enrollment and graduation

Between academic year 1995 - 96 and 2000 - 01, total student enrollment in ALA-accredited master's degree programs in the United States ranged from 12,000 to 14,000. Students of color accounted for about ten percent each year. The pool of Spectrum scholars has not increased the percentage of MLS students of color; in fact, between fall 1997 and fall 1998, the actual number of students of color enrolled in MLS programs declined by 48. The number of African American students increased by 31 and there were 24 more Hispanic/Latino students enrolled in 1998 than had been in 1997. These increases were accompanied by a decline of 66 Native American students and 37 Asian American students. Although the percentage of enrolled students of color has not increased dramatically, the percentage and number of MLS graduates of color has increased slowly. In the 1995 - 96 academic year only nine percent of MLS graduates were students of color. That number peaked at nearly 13 percent in 1999 - 2000. Since the Spectrum program was initiated, ten percent of all MLS graduates are librarians of color.

Doctoral students and faculty

Between academic year 1995 - 96 and 2000 - 01, 411 doctoral degrees have been awarded by LIS programs, 53 of which (13 percent) were earned by students of color, slightly higher than the ten percent of all MLS graduates of color. Students of color made up only 12 percent of the doctoral enrollment. Overwhelmingly, LIS faculty members are white, like the MLS graduates they produce. Still, LIS faculty are slightly more diverse than the student body. Only ten percent of 1994 - 2001 MLS graduates were from ethnic or racial minorities, while 19 percent of faculty were. The percentage of Asian American faculty was three times that of Asian American MLS graduates. The percentage of Native American LIS faculty was double that of Native American MLS graduates. African Americans made up six percent of LIS faculty, compared with five percent of MLS graduates. Only the percentage of Hispanic MLS graduates was higher than the percentage of faculty but by less than one-tenth of one percent.

Which schools succeed?

In 1997, LJ reported that the top three schools for producing MLS graduates of color were the University of Puerto Rico - San Juan, Clark Atlanta University, and University of Hawaii, Honolulu. These schools continue to be strong producers of MLS graduates of color. Even so, these schools also tend to have small graduation rates. Between 1995 and 2001, the University of Puerto Rico graduated 122 students from the MLS program; 100 percent of these students claimed Hispanic heritage. The second highest percentage of graduates of color, 64 percent, received degrees from Clark Atlanta University. Clark Atlanta turned out only 193 MLS graduates during the six years of analysis, with 124 MLS graduates of color, including 115 African Americans. The University of Hawaii produced 233 graduates during the six years of analysis, with 50 percent being graduates of color. Other small schools produced significant percentages of MLS graduates of color: Pratt Institute, New York (with 30 percent MLS graduates of color), North Carolina Central University, Durham (30 percent), UCLA (24 percent), and St. John's University, Jamaica, NY (18 percent). These schools produced fewer than 100 MLS graduates per year on average. Of schools that averaged more than 100 MLS graduates per year, the top producers of graduates of color were Queens College, CUNY (19 percent), San Jose State University, CA (19 percent), University of Texas at Austin (13 percent), Florida State University, Tallahassee (13 percent), and Wayne State University, Detroit (12 percent). The library program at Clark Atlanta was established to produce African American librarians, as well as librarians who understand the importance of cultural diversity. Between 1995 and 2001, it produced four percent of all MLS graduates of color and nine percent of all African American MLS graduates. Announced in October 2003, the closure of the program is expected to be complete by 2007. With this action, one of the strongest consistent producers of African American librarians will shut its doors, negatively impacting the profession's attempt to diversify the work force.

Striving for parity

The U.S. Census Bureau Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2002 (www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/01statab/pop.pdf) reported that as of July 2001, non-Hispanic whites made up 69 percent of the population. The remaining 31 percent were in the protected racial and ethnic categories. From 1995 to 2001, MLS programs graduated 30,192 students, only ten percent of whom were students of color. Asian American MLS graduates are closest to achieving parity with their population. Native Americans make up almost one percent of the population but less than four-tenths of one percent of MLS graduates. We need three times as many African American graduates and four times the number of Hispanic graduates to achieve parity with the U.S. population. A graduating class of 5000 MLS students would need to include 1,535 students of color to equal their representation in the general population as of 2001. That group would have to include 48 Native Americans, 201 Asian Americans, 637 African Americans, and 649 Hispanics. This would be a 300 percent increase over the current graduation rate for MLS students of color. In today's atmosphere of shrinking budgets and increased financial constraints, ALA cannot provide sufficient financial support for all these students. Diversity on library staffs must be a top priority for the 21st century if libraries are to be relevant to the people they serve.

Disconnected from the people

When the profession's lack of diversity record demonstrates a dissimilarity and disconnect from the nation's general population there is a professional and emotional impact on U.S. communities and librarians of color. Our profession loses relevance for many citizens. This doesn't mean that only people from one of these large protected groups can provide library service to members of that group. Obviously, today's librarians provide considerable cross-cultural service. White librarians serve communities of color, just as librarians of color serve white communities. It is important to strive to have the numbers of librarians mirror the numbers in the population. Librarianship is a profession driven by language and culture. The profession aims to be user-centered. The materials with which we deal - whether the format be print, audiovisual, or digital - will originate in the specific languages and cultures that make up our population. Librarians from these very communities have developed knowledge of those cultures and will enrich librarianship. In the United States, the educational and other dominant institutions are geared to white, mainstream cultures. As a consequence, most Americans get a grounding in the culture and knowledge of the mainstream. The cultural traditions of nondominant groups are often not taught nor understood by the majority groups. Recruiting from the "minority" groups will result in more knowledgeable librarians to serve these other American communities. Traditionally, the library profession has held potential librarians of color to an English-only white standard. Knowledge of other languages and cultures has been dismissed or overlooked as unimportant. The solution is to recruit more people of color into the profession. Looking at our numbers, we must conclude that today, 40 years after Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, the dream is still deferred in America and in her libraries. MLS Students Enrolled, Fall 1996 - Fall 2001

Semester	Total enrollment	Students of color	Percentage
1996	12,649	1,306	10.32%
1997	12,480	1,337	10.71
1998	12,801	1,289	10.07
1999	12,282	1,270	10.34
2000	13,127	1,317	10.03
2001	14,043	1,498	10.67

  MLS Graduates, 1995 - 96 to 2000 - 01

Academic year	Total MLS graduates	MLS graduates of color	Percentage
1995 - 96	5,271	454	8.61%
1996 - 97	5,068	444	8.76
1997 - 98	5,024	474	9.43
1998 - 99	4,999	508	10.16
1999 - 2000	4,877	625	12.82
2000 - 01	4,953	504	10.18
TOTAL	30,192	3,009	9.97

  Ethnic Backgrounds of Graduating Doctoral Students, 2000 - 01, and Full-Time Faculty, Jan. 2002

Ethnic/racial group	Percentage of of Doctoral graduates	Percentage of Full-time faculty
	Total: 85	Total: 664
American Indian, Native American	0%	0.75%
Asian American, Pacific Islander	0	9.49
African American, Black	4.71	5.72
Hispanic, Latino	1.18	2.71

  MLS Graduates of Color and U.S. Population

Ethnic/racial group	Percentage of MLS graduates, 1994 - 2001	Percentage of population, July 2001
American Indian, Native American	.38%	0.96%
Asian American, Pacific Islander	2.75	4.02
African American, Black	4.04	12.73
Hispanic, Latino	2.77	12.98

 

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Denice Adkins is an Assistant Professor, University of Missouri, Columbia. Isabel Espinal, a Past President of the Northeast Chapter of Reforma, is a Humanities & Anthropology Librarian, University of Massachusetts, Amherst