The Home, Hiring, and Retention sections of this guide were developed by Holly Penttila. Holly is a reference librarian at the Amelia V. Gallucci-Cirio Library at Fitchburg State University, and is expected to complete her MLIS in May 2024.
As academic libraries, we understand that to continue being relevant and integral parts of our campus communities, we must reflect the increasingly diverse communities we serve. Part of this is creating a diverse library workforce. This guide is intended to support academic library directors and deans at Massachusetts public colleges and universities during the hiring process.
As listed in the MCCLPHEI Mission, Vision, Values, and Priorities:
We center diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and social justice to guide how we think, act, and interact with one another.
Our institutions are becoming increasingly diverse, and many libraries and higher education institutions are committing to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, but it doesn't erase the history of racism and exclusionary practices that have underlined our field.
In a study of the Portland State University Library, researchers found that minority and underrepresented students were less likely to partake in reference interactions with librarians (Eleto et al., 2008). Several of the students of color that were surveyed suggested that having a more diverse staff would make them feel more comfortable speaking with the staff, given that the staff at the Portland State University Library were predominantly white. This is just a single example, but is not unique to the field. Students are more comfortable approaching library staff when they see people that are like them.
Underrepresented and minority faculty and librarians are an important to creating a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We cannot provide quality services to our constituents if they don't feel comfortable approaching us or visiting our spaces.
This guide is split into a few different sections, each focused on specific aspects of the employee lifecycle or related topics. Each sub-page will have a section called "Quick Takeaways", where you will find a short summary of the information included on that page.
This section follows the hiring and recruitment period of the employee lifecycle. This includes job postings, hiring committees, and interviews. Subpages go into more depth about specific aspects of this period.
This section follows the retention period of the employee lifecycle. This period occurs after a candidate has been hired and onboarded, and places focus on the professional development and mentoring of the existing workforce, as well as new hires.
This section is focused on cultural competency, an important aspect to creating an equitable, diverse, and inclusive library.
This will redirect you to the ACRL Diversity Standards Toolkit.
This section includes citations for items referenced within the guide, as well as recommended resources for further reading.
Published in 2012, the ACRL's "Diversity Standards: Cultural Competency for Academic Libraries" outlines a framework for academic libraries to follow when "engaging the complexities of providing services to diverse populations, and recruiting and maintaining a diverse library workforce".
The ACRL Diversity Standards Toolkit was developed by the Racial and Ethnic Diversity Committee of the Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL). The standards are intended to be applied to libraries serving and supporting academic programs at higher education institutions. The standards are a framework to support libraries engaging in the complexities of providing services to diverse populations, as well as in recruiting and maintaining a diverse library workforce. The ACRL also encourages libraries to develop local approaches and goals using the standards as a starting point, in the context of the organizations' mission and situation.
You can access the ACRL Diversity Standards Toolkit by clicking on the "ACRL Standards Toolkit" tab.