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MELLON FOUNDATION FUNDS COLLABORATIVE LIBRARIAN RECRUITMENT PROGRAM
AUGUST 27, 2003—The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded Oberlin College library, along with five other academic libraries, $500,000 for a major collaborative project that addresses librarian recruiting and diversity issues at the undergraduate level.
The multi-tiered program will include broad-based, issues-oriented programming to familiarize undergraduate students with significant challenges facing the library profession, draw their attention to the potential of librarianship as a career, and alert them to the more selective internship opportunities of the project. In addition to Oberlin, the libraries of the Atlanta University Center (serving Clark University and Morehouse and Spelman Colleges) and Mount Holyoke, Occidental, Swarthmore, and Wellesley Colleges will participate in the project.
"This initiative will help address the shortage of professional librarians that is facing the country," says Ray English, Oberlin Director of Libraries and project coordinator. "Many academic and public libraries are already reporting difficulties filling librarian positions, and a recent study estimates that 60 percent of current librarians will reach retirement age by 2020. This problem will reach crisis proportions unless effective measures can be taken to increase the numbers of those pursuing library careers."
The initiative is also designed to help broaden the racial and ethnic composition of the library profession, so that it can better serve increasingly diverse populations. All four federally-defined and underrepresented groups (African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans) are seriously lacking among practicing librarians. "The participating schools are well-position to address this important goal of the project, given the composition of their student bodies," notes English.
New Oberlin library staff member Megan Kinney will be the Mellon recruitment program coordinator. She will manage the grant locally as well as coordinate grant activities with campus contacts at each of the other five academic libraries. This fall each campus will inaugurate the project with programs for library student assistants focusing on librarianship as a changing and dynamic profession critical to the strength of a democratic society. The programs also will be announced to the general student body and may be coordinated with faculty who teach relevant courses.
Among the topics to be addressed will be privacy issues and the USA Patriot Act; intellectual freedom and First Amendment rights; the economics of information, including barriers to access; collection preservation and the potential loss of cultural and intellectual heritage; the importance of information literacy and critical thinking skills needed to take advantage of an increasingly complex information environment; and issues of diversity and multiculturalism in librarianship.
"Although professional library organizations have identified recruitment and diversification as urgent priorities, most programs designed to address these needs focus on the postgraduate years," points out English. "The profession needs models that address recruiting at an earlier stage of the pipeline, when students are beginning to think seriously about career choices. It’s especially important to attract highly talented students who can provide leadership for the profession."
A second component of the project is a selective undergraduate internship experience that has been designed to give students at each campus a thorough understanding of librarianship as a profession. In addition to learning about the nature of professional library work, participants will complete projects under librarian mentors and also participate in summer internships at other libraries.
In subsequent stages of the project it is anticipated that post-baccalaureate intern and graduate library school scholarships will be awarded competitively among the participating institutions.
Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli
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