University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

From Hostile to Inclusive: Strategies for Improving the Racial Climate of Academic Libraries

Alabi, Jaena

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/101940

Description

Title
From Hostile to Inclusive: Strategies for Improving the Racial Climate of Academic Libraries
Author(s)
Alabi, Jaena
Issue Date
2018
Keyword(s)
  • Academic libraries
  • Information science
  • Library and information science
  • Diversity
  • Race
  • Ethnicity
Abstract
Despite the presence of programs such as ALA’s Spectrum Scholarship and the ARL Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce, library and information science (LIS) has not been successful in increasing the number of racial/ethnic minorities in the profession, especially in academic libraries. Though the LIS literature addresses recruitment and retention of people of color, very few articles acknowledge that some individuals from underrepresented populations may experience the profession as chilly or even hostile due to racism, especially as it is manifested in the form of racial microaggressions. Although often delivered unconsciously, these seemingly benign exchanges convey to the recipient negative and denigrating messages about that person’s race or ethnicity. The burden of work relating to diversity and inclusion in the profession has typically been placed on people of color, but those of us who are White also have a responsibility to engage in these endeavors. This article will identify steps that White academic librarians can take to prevent and address racial microaggressions in order to become better allies to our colleagues of color.
Publisher
Johns Hopkins University Press. The School of Information Sciences at Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Series/Report Name or Number
Library Trends 67 (1). Summer 2018
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/101940
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2018.0029
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2018 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Owning Collections

Library Trends 67 (1) Summer 2018: Race and Ethnicity in Library and Information Science: An Update PRIMARY
Library Trends 67 (1) Summer 2018: Race and Ethnicity in Library and Information Science: An Update. Edited by Nicole A. Cooke