PDA Event: Library Preparedness: Formalizing and Supporting the Diversity Residency Experience

Recruitment of diverse library candidates is often a stated goal and priority for many libraries and archives. One way academic libraries attempt to meet this goal is by creating diversity resident librarian positions. These diversity library residencies are temporary, entry-level professional positions that are designed to introduce a new professionals from underrepresented ethnic and racial backgrounds to the landscape of working in academic libraries. While it is clear that these diversity residencies help academic libraries meet their recruitment goals, what is less clear in diversity residencies are frameworks that support diversity residents themselves and to help ensure their retention and advancement in the profession.

In this session, members of the ACRL Residency Interest Group (RIG) Subgroup on Diversity Residencies will illustrate the process of creating the Diversity Residency Toolkit. Designed to be used by both hosting institutions and resident librarians, the toolkit contains both guidelines and assessment tools to help ensure the residency supports the resident’s professional goals and personal growth. The authors’ approach to developing the toolkit is rooted in our personal experiences as former or current resident librarians as well as the body of research on library diversity residencies, both of which informed the creation of a Resident Centered Framework (RCF). We argue that utilizing the RCF to formalize and support the residency is the most effective approach to contributing to retention of library professionals from underrepresented backgrounds.

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Sponsored by ASERL