African American Leaders in the Library Profession: Little Known History

Hunt, Rebecca

doi:10.1353/bhb.2013.0000

Black History Bulletin

2013

DOI: 10.1353/bhb.2013.0000

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African American Leaders in the Library Profession: Little Known History

Rebecca Hunt¹

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2023

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“…The report emphasized that attrition of Black library workers could not "be completely accounted for by retirement " (p. 11). Outside of the support of these predominately white organizations, Black librarians worked tirelessly to address the epistemological, pedagogical, and cultural implications regarding the lack of Black librarians in the profession (Hunt, 2013;Josey, 1970) and their absence from leadership positions in libraries and professional organizations.…”

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Battered But Not Broken: A Composite of the Experiences of Black Librarians at Public, 2-Year Colleges – Dissertation of the Year

Oates

2023

Community College Review

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Objective: Black librarians account for just 5.4% of academic librarians in the U.S. in a period in which enrollments for Black students steadily increases. While national programs aimed at recruitment exist, too little attention is focused on the environments and cultures that influence the attrition of racially minoritized groups. This study investigated the experiences of Black librarians at public, 2-year colleges in the U.S. to better understand how they navigate, cope, and succeed amongst the challenges of academic librarianship. The following question guided the study: what are the experiences of Black librarians at public, 2-year colleges? Methods: Using Critical Race Methodology’s composite counterstory (CCS) and through two, ninety-minute interviews with four narrators, the experiences of Black librarians were leveraged to construct and reconstruct the storied lives of Black librarians in community college libraries. Results: The findings show the hostile environments Black librarians encounter in their work as educators at community colleges. Across and within their stories, four themes were found: retaliation, derailment, gendered racism, and violence. The narrators reported their work is made difficult in these environments, often creating barriers to retention (profession), promotion (organization), professional acknowledgment, and success. Conclusions: Implications for practice and research suggest bold action to counter the cultures of white supremacy to include intersectional audits for the organization, changes in HR policies, training and practices, and an emphasis on cohort hiring from national organizations among other recommendations.

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confidence: 99%

Battered But Not Broken: A Composite of the Experiences of Black Librarians at Public, 2-Year Colleges – Dissertation of the Year

Oates

2023

Community College Review

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African American Librarians: A Survey Conducted between 2019 and 2020 in the United States

Spence¹,

Bayramli²

2023

The Library Quarterly

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The library profession in the United States faces many challenges in keeping up with diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts. African Americans who are entering the library profession contribute to these efforts. This article presents the analysis of a survey of African American librarians in the United States conducted on October 23, 2019, and closed on February 1, 2020. It looks at the African American librarian's journey to the library profession. Survey takers were asked to describe their achievements in librarianship, how they entered the profession, future goals, and challenges. Analysis of survey responses is presented along with a brief literature review, followed by some suggestions for further research. The authors hope to increase the conversation on this topic and contribute to diversity, inclusion, and equity efforts.

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African American Leaders in the Library Profession: Little Known History

Cited by 2 publications

References 0 publications

Battered But Not Broken: A Composite of the Experiences of Black Librarians at Public, 2-Year Colleges – Dissertation of the Year

Battered But Not Broken: A Composite of the Experiences of Black Librarians at Public, 2-Year Colleges – Dissertation of the Year

African American Librarians: A Survey Conducted between 2019 and 2020 in the United States

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