Contact: Mary Ellen Davis
Executive Director, ACRL
312-280-3248
mdavis@ala.org

For Immediate Release
September 18, 2007

ACRL releases “Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity among
Academic and Research Librarians”

CHICAGO —The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) announces the release of “Achieving Racial and Ethnic Diversity among Academic and Research Librarians: The Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement of Librarians of Color,” a white paper commissioned by the ACRL Board of Directors working group on diversity, chaired by Dorothy Washington of the Purdue University Black Cultural Center Library in Lafayette, Ind. The paper was authored by Teresa Neely of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M., and Lorna Peterson of the University of Buffalo in Buffalo, N.Y.

Building on the 2002 ACRL white paper, “Recruitment, Retention & Restructuring: Human Resource in Academic Libraries,” the authors discuss efforts to promote, develop and foster workplaces that are representative of a diverse population, along with addressing the development of a workplace climate that supports and encourages the advancement of librarians from underrepresented groups. The paper stresses empirically supported and assessable solutions to increasing the diversity of the academic library workforce, drawing inspiration from the broader recruitment, retention and advancement literatures.

The white paper recommends specific goals for recruitment, retention and advancement of diverse populations; focusing on collaborative recruitment planning, encouraging a positive work environment and support system for minority hires and increased mentoring opportunities to promote advancement. Working to enact and assess these goals will help academic libraries more effectively serve their diverse communities and overcome the historical lack of recruitment, retention and advancement of people of color in academic librarianship.

The white paper and a companion piece authored by ACRL President Julie Todaro, of the Austin Community College in Austin, Texas, can be found online at www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/whitepapers/whitepapersreports.cfm.

ACRL, a division of the American Library Association, represents 13,500 academic and research librarians and interested individuals. ACRL is the only individual membership organization in North America that develops programs, products and services to meet the unique needs of academic and research librarians.  Its initiatives enable the higher education community to understand the role that academic and research libraries play in the teaching, learning and research environments.