Intersections

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About Intersections

Intersections, the blog of the ALA Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services (ODLOS), highlights the work of library and information science workers as they create safe, responsible, and all-inclusive spaces that serve and represent the entire community, as well as initiatives and projects supported by the office that promotes their work. Please note that these blog posts are by individuals and do not reflect the views of their employers.


The Spectrum Scholarship Program actively recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern and North African, and/or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and ALA. Spectrum Scholarship Alumni are part of what makes this program successful -- we are thrilled to highlight Maggie Shawcross (2009 Scholar) to talk about the Scholarship, as well as current work. This interview was conducted via...

Read more | 02/22/2024 - 13:12

The Spectrum Scholarship Program actively recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern and North African, and/or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and ALA. Spectrum Scholarship Alumni are part of what makes this program successful -- we are thrilled to highlight Luisa Leija (2020 Scholar), Senior Librarian at the Long Beach Public Library, to talk about the Scholarship, as well as...

Read more | 01/26/2024 - 14:33

The Spectrum Scholarship Program actively recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern and North African, and/or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and ALA. Spectrum Scholarship Alumni are part of what makes this program successful -- we are thrilled to highlight Jerrell Jones (2021 Spectrum Scholar) who currently works at Rice University Library to talk about the Scholarship, as...

Read more | 12/22/2023 - 13:29

The Spectrum Scholarship Program actively recruits and provides scholarships to American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Middle Eastern and North African, and/or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students to assist them with obtaining a graduate degree and leadership positions within the profession and ALA. Spectrum Scholarship Alumni are part of what makes this program successful -- we are thrilled to highlight Iliana Burgos (2019 Spectrum Scholar) who currently works at Cornell University Library to talk about the Scholarship, as well as...

Read more | 11/17/2023 - 11:35

  By: Julia Davis, Branch Manager II, Orange Park Library We’ve all seen the statistics- library science is a field desperately lacking in diversity. As of 2020, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that librarians are 83.1% white and 83.2% female. While there are countless initiatives on a national and state level to help draw new, diverse professionals into the field, one of the best places to start is by examining your own hiring practices and how they may be contributing to this ongoing static. Not sure where to start? Here are three great ways to begin the...

Read more | 08/05/2021 - 08:00

By: Joanna Tine, Community Engagement Specialist at K12, Joyner Library at East Carolina University The modern job hunt is considerably different than it was ten years ago. What I mean by that is, the modern job hunt is considerably different than it was last year. Despite a changing marketplace, it’s important to become familiar with the unchanged expectations and considerations of the processes of seeking employment. Before the Search If you’re starting out on the journey towards a new job, you most likely have a few interests and preferences in mind....

Read more | 07/09/2021 - 08:00

By: Jamia Williams, Health Sciences Librarian, Drake Memorial Library Before I started looking into onboarding practices, I knew that I was like many people thinking that onboarding was similar to orientation, but it is not. Onboarding is a continuous process of bringing a person into the culture of your institution. Orientation is usually a one- or two-day event that introduces a new employee to the university or college, it is also a way to make new people feel welcomed. I think of orientation as being the foundation of a person’s onboarding. Unfortunately, some...

Read more | 06/18/2021 - 08:00

By: Kari Siders, Director of Library Public Services, Centennial Library, Cedarville University Erica has been searching for a few months on a quest to be the successful applicant for a library position. She updates her resume and writes one more cover letter. Finally, the call, someone wants to interview her for a position. In her elation, she pauses remembering what a mentor in her past told her, “always go into an interview prepared to sell yourself well.” At that point, her preparation begins. She reviews the job posting highlighting the skills that she would bring...

Read more | 05/27/2021 - 08:00

  By: Rebecca Brown, Outreach Services Librarian, Ketchikan Public Library As a 6-foot-tall kid, I played basketball. Maybe that’s why “hard pivot” is how I keep describing this last year of library outreach. When COVID-19 first broke, I had just celebrated my first anniversary as the outreach services librarian at the Ketchikan Public Library. It had been a blissful first year: off-site library programs galore!  Materials were distributed at homeless shelters, women’s shelters, and a youth detention facility. Senior center programs –...

Read more | 05/21/2021 - 08:33

By: Kawanna Bright, Assistant Professor, East Carolina University; and Joanna Nelson Rendón, Director of Young Adult Services, Pikes Peak Library District The Privilege Layer Cake (PLC) activity started as a conversation in Dr. Bright’s Privilege & Equity course and a mention by Dr. Bright in a keynote speech. Co-author Joanna Nelson Rendón was in attendance at the keynote and took the initiative to create a small group activity for her staff and another session for managers based on the activity. The success of those sessions led to an opportunity to bring the activity to...

Read more | 05/14/2021 - 08:00