Diversity in Libraries: Academic Residency Programs (review)

Unlike some books on technology published two years ago, the content of Diversity in Libraries has lost none of its relevance in the intervening period. Indeed, it is a common observation in writing on diversity in academic libraries to note how little the situation has changed over the years, quantitatively and perhaps qualitatively as well. Yet there are pockets of positive change. This book explores one of those pockets in depth—academic library residency programs. Edited by two academic librarians who are former residents, it is the only book to deal with residency programs in the context of diversity. Collectively, these essays give a resounding endorsement to the use of academic residency programs as a way to increase cultural diversity and the presence of people of color in academic librarianship.

The book is divided into three parts. Part One consists of essays by residency program administrators; Part Two includes essays by recent residents about the residency experience itself; Part Three, "Post Residence," examines the long-term effects of residency programs on the careers of participating librarians as well as on the host libraries and on the profession as a whole. This sequence is quite appropriate, as the focus on administrative issues immediately puts the residencies into a larger context and answers some basic questions. Why did these residencies develop? What was the organizational environment like? What were the implementation strategies? What were the philosophical and logistical hurdles? What are the short and long term benefits of these programs, and how have these been assessed? How are other library staff brought into the minority residency? Indeed, what is the role of the non-minority staff?

One of the more memorable essays is by personnel librarian Julie Brewer, who had never had to deal with minority recruitment issues before taking on the job of coordinator of the Pauline A. Young Residency Program at the University of Delaware. She also notes that since she herself was not a member of an underrepresented group, she had had the luxury of not being concerned about minority issues at all. I would venture to guess that this is a quite common experience of academic library staff, but it is refreshing to see white privilege acknowledged. Remarkable also is her willingness and ability to learn about minority recruitment and her enthusiasm and respect for the residents and the residency program as a whole.

Brewer's essay and others also underscore the value that residencies bring to libraries. Linda DeBeau-Melting writes of how residents model "a transition to a new way of working" for the entire library (p.19). Yet the essays in this book also caution against putting too many expectations or burdens for organizational change on the residents themselves or even on the residency program as a fix-it-all solution to the lack of staff diversity. A related theme is the importance of organizational commitment to diversity and of the education of all library staff. It should not fall on the residents to justify their presence.

Of course, the residents' perspectives, both current and past, are immensely important, and my favorite feature of the book. In the tradition of the groundbreaking 1996 anthology In Our Own Voices: the Changing Face of Librarianship, (edited by Teresa Y. Neely and Khafre K. Abif, Scarecrow Press), the essays of Parts Two and Three give valuable insider information that would be of use to anyone in libraries. There are so few opportunities to gather so many perspectives of librarians of color in one place. Unfortunately, in many academic libraries there is only one of us from any particular group. For example, I've been the only Latina/o librarian at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for the five years I have been on staff. I cannot possibly represent all Latinos or all people of color. By reading...