Graduates from various library diversity initiatives will discuss their experiences and summarize their programs’ outcomes. Presenters and participants will then brainstorm and explore various strategies that their institutions can use to recruit, nurture, and retain more individuals from under-represented groups. At the conclusion of the program, participants will share their suggestions with the larger group. (These ideas will form the nucleus of a Wiki resource that librarians can use for furthering diversity efforts.)

1. Getting Together To Go Forward:
The Lessons of Diversity Initiatives
and How to Implement Them
at Your Library
September 22, 2012
http://bit.ly/librarydiversity

2. • Lisa Chow
PULSE (Public Urban Library Service Education)
• Latanya N. Jenkins
ARL; Diversity Fellowship
• Edwin B. Maxwell
Spectrum
• Louis Muñoz Jr.
Moderator; MIP (Multicultural Internship Program)

3. Presenters
Lisa Chow is a newish information professional with a few "library
ribbons" including SLA Rising Star, LJ Mover & Shaker, ALA Emerging
Leader, ARL Diversity Scholar and PULSE (Public Urban Library
Service Education) Trainee. She is currently working as a Web Analyst
at Brooklyn Public Library. Lisa is half of People Interact, a consultancy
that empowers libraries and other organizations to be people-centered.
Find out more at http://bit.ly/lisachow.

4. Presenters
Latanya N. Jenkins is an academic librarian who also was an
American Library Association (ALA) Emerging Leader sponsored by
the Reference & User Services Association (RUSA). She is a past
Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Diversity Scholar and mentor
as well as a past fellow and visiting assistant professor at Purdue
University Libraries. Latanya was a recent participant in the Minnesota
Institute for Early Career Librarians from Traditionally
Underrepresented Groups. She works as a Reference Librarian &
Government Documents, Head at Morgan State University's Earl S.
Richardson Library in Baltimore, MD. Latanya is the liaison to the
School of Architecture + Planning.

5. Presenters
Edwin B. Maxwell is a lecturer of Information Literacy at ASA institute
and a senior librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library.
He is a proud product of numerous library diversity initiatives including
ALA’s Spectrum Institute, New York Black Librarians’ Caucus Donna
Hoke Scholar and the program and Brooklyn Public Library’s Pulse. He
holds these initiatives very close to his heart and continues to
champion for diversity in libraries by serving as the chairperson for the
New York Black Librarian’s Caucus’ Scholarship committee, a mentor
to high school students as part of Brooklyn Public Library’s Multicultural
Internship Project, and a recruiter for ALA’s Discovering Librarianship
Program.

6. Presenters
Louis Muñoz Jr. is a product of the PULSE leadership and diversity
program. He currently works in the Multilingual Center at Brooklyn
Public Library (BPL), providing services and support to immigrants. He
is a Mentor in the Multicultural Internship Program (MIP), and serves on
this and other BPL committees. Louis has been Secretary of the New
York Library Association’s (NYLA) Ethnic Services Roundtable and
REFORMA’s Northeast Chapter (RNE), as well as Vice-President and
President of RNE. His President’s Initiatives included proposing and
creating a new scholarship fund for library school students (to promote
recruitment), and helping create another annual award for current
professionals (to promote retention). Louis has been Co-Chair of
REFORMA National’s Recruitment and Mentoring Committee and is
currently Chair of several RNE committees, as well as the 2012-2014
Secretary of REFORMA National. In addition, he has been a moderator
and presenter at various library conferences.

7. Public Urban Library Service Education
(PULSE) Program
Lisa Chow

8. What is PULSE?
• PULSE = Public Urban Library Service
Education
• Library recruitment, leadership, and training
program
• Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS) three-year grant: $516,732
• Partnership between Brooklyn Public Library
and Pratt Institute School of Information and
Library Science

9. PULSE Trainees
• Pratt library school students
• Three cohorts (2004-2006) = total of 21
PULSE Trainees
• Selection of Pratt students in PULSE
internships each semester

10. Why PULSE?
• "At LJ [Library
Journal], we've long
been railing against
the disconnect
between library
education and
practice, PULSE
binds the two
together."

11. PULSE Features
• Full-time salaried position
• Rotation-based structure (3-month rotations in
various library locations and departments)
• Conference attendance support
• Tuition reimbursement
• Mentor and mentee pairing
• Monthly knowledge seminars
• Entry-level librarian positions offered after
program completion/library school graduation

12. PULSE Rotations

13. What PULSE trainees are saying...

14. What PULSE trainees are saying...

15. Brooklyn PL Ends PULSE

16. Where are they now?
*Partial list

17. Takeaways from PULSE
• Practical hands-on experience is invaluable
• Exposure to different areas of a library -
areas of interest and career paths
• Need for continuous networking
opportunities during and after the program
• Lack of training in key areas such as grant
writing and project management
• Need to include multilingual and under-
represented groups in addition to people of
color

18. Association of Research Libraries (ARL)
Diversity Scholars Program and Purdue
University Fellowship Program
Latanya N. Jenkins

19. ARL Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce
Purpose:
"to attract students from racial and ethnic
minority groups to careers in academic
and research libraries"

20. ARL IRDW
History
• Began in 2002
• Annual, became biennial in 2004
• leadership development
• scholarship
• formal mentoring
• funding: IMLS grant & ARL libraries

21. ARL IRDW: Leadership Training
ALA Midwinter
•Networking with ARL library directors &
human resources representatives
•Advice from program alumni
•Attend & participate in discussions on
issues in academic libraries

22. ARL IRDW
• Also, supports signature ARL institutions
with recruitment efforts of minorities
• Emphasis on support of new
professionals/ recent graduate
preparation for academic library work
• Promotion of implementing residency
programs within ARL institutions

23. ARL visit to Purdue University Libraries
Purdue University is an ARL Institution
•hosted ARL IRDW Diversity scholars since
2005
•Annual commitment to promote discussion
in research libraries
•Series of panels discussing emerging
technology, scholarly communication, etc.
•Reception held at the Black Cultural Center

24. Purdue University Libraries Fellowship Program
Purpose:
"Supporting national initiatives to promote diversity in librarianship by preparing new librarians to
lead change through transformative thinking in service to diverse users."

25. Purdue University Libraries Fellowship
The Program Details...
Dates: 2006-2008
 Initially two 2 Year Professional
positions
 Visiting Assistant Professor,
Non-tenure track faculty

26. Interviewing...
Results from hundreds of applicants
- Four candidates from diverse
backgrounds chosen
- Year 1: option to Rotate through 3-4 library
departments/ units
- Year 2: Capstone

27. Purdue University Libraries Fellows
The Program Details...Par ticipant Goals
ensuring access to information vital for the success of those with
various endeavors...
an opportunity fulfill a desire to
to discover ways promotion of work in an
contribute skills
and knowledge...
library environment which is
resources... service oriented...

28. The Rotations
From Reference to Digital Initiatives work
o digitization & grant projects
o transcribing letters & diaries: George Winters
o oral history projects
o processing Virginia Kelly Karnes collection
o reference & instruction: information literacy
o website analysis
o collection development
o access services & technical services work

29. Networking & collaborations
Participants were encouraged to pursue local and
national opportunities.
o Received a grant & collaborated with local
libraries
o Liaisons to Black Cultural Center (BCC),
Latino Cultural Center (LCC) & Native
American Educational & Cultural Center
(NAECC)
o Conference support and promotion through invited
talks

30. Capstones
Participants final year...
Collection development activities
• Organizing and cataloging the Latino Cultural
Center's collection
Special collections:
• Outreach to diverse Greek campus groups
• Oral history project with leaders of the Cultural
Centers

31. Opportunities to grow & lead

32. American Library Association (ALA)
Spectrum
Edwin B. Maxwell

33. What is Spectrum?
•
• Established in 1997,
• the Spectrum Scholarship Program
is
• ALA's national diversity and
recruitment effort designed to
address the
• specific issue of under-
representation of critically needed
ethnic librarians within the
profession.

34. Spectrum's Mission

35. Benefits of Spectrum
For Organization For Scholar
•$5,000 tuition
• Diverse Workforce •Free ALA Membership
• Unique Expertise •Spectrum Leadership
• Passionate Institute
Employees

36. Additional Benefits

37. Who are Spectrum Scholars
• Over 700 Spectrum
Scholars
• Professionals from
Underrepresented
Groups
• 50 Library Schools
• Wide Array of Library
Positions

38. The Spectrum Model
• Recruit
• Highly competitive national
recruiting process
• Develop
• Leadership training
• Formal/Informal Mentoring
• Retain
• Constant engagement and
support

39. Key to Spectrum’s Success

40. The Multicultural Internship Program
@ Brooklyn Public Library
Louis Muñoz, Sept. 22, 2012

41. What is the Multicultural Internship Program?
Introduces high school
students from
different ethnic,
cultural, and linguistic
backgrounds
to the diverse
opportunities
available
to library
professionals.

42. OBJECTIVES of MIP:
1. Help increase the number of qualified professionals for
employment as librarians.
2. Give teens from diverse backgrounds exposure to &
experience in a range of LIS responsibilities & areas.
3. Connect teens to their communities.
4. Increase ethnic & linguistic diversity of BPL librarians to
reflect the borough’s diversity.
5. Better serve the needs and interests of Brooklyn’s
diverse populations.
6. Address issues faced by libraries of similar size & type.
7. Reflect a vision of change.

43. Genesis…
• Assessment/Focus Groups: Only 4 out of 22
teens had considered LIS as a career option.
• Idea that librarians deal mostly with books.
• Disconnect between activities rewarding to teens
and awareness of librarians being involved in
those kinds of activities.
• According to a 5-yr. ALA Spectrum survey,
“the single most predictive indicator for choosing
to enter a LIS program was prior experience
working in a library.”
(Loriene Roy et al., Bridging Boundaries to Create a New Workforce: A Survey of
Spectrum Scholarship Recipients, 1998-2003, American Library Association, 2006.)

44. Other influences on creation of MIP:
• Fairfax County (VA) Library’s IMLS-funded
An American Future program
• New York Hall of Science’s Career Ladder
(mentoring & recruitment program)
• Knowledge River, University of Arizona
• Study on Generation 1.5 students

45. Competitive
Selection
Process:
Total of
171 students
chosen from
across Brooklyn
for paid internship
for 200 service hours,
January - June.

47. Orientation Workshops:
• “Case of the Missing Fish: Customer Service at
Its Finest” (HR Office)
• “College Readiness for Young Adults”
(Business & Career Library)
• “Do You Speak My Language? Serving
Brooklyn’s Immigrants through Cultural
Awareness” (Multilingual Center)
• “Young Person’s Guide to Electronic Resources
at BPL” (Office of Collection Development)

50. School-Year Internship
Variety of General Projects, including:
• Assisted with language interpretation &
translation
• Provided tech support
• Created book displays
• Shadowed librarians and other staff and created
• Ran programs for kids and teens

53. School-Year Internship
Examples of Specific Projects:
• Chinese New Year Celebration
• Teen Tech Week Bingo
• Teen Tech Week Jeopardy
• Mehndi programs
• “Are You a Teen Looking for a Job?”
• Open Mic Night at Spring Creek
• Videos: “Why I Love My Library” &
“The True Story of Agatha Cunningham”
(Check them out on YouTube!!)

56. MIP Elective Workshops/
Training Activities
• MIP Book Club • Music Appreciation
• Brooklyn Open • Brooklyn Collection
• Central Library Tour • Today’s Teens/Tomorrow’s Techies
• A Night at the Improv! • ESOL & Pre-GED Registrations
• Career Readiness • Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Chat Sessions • T4 Comic Book Club workshops
• Show Me How to Do That! • CPR To-Go Program
• MIP Mentor/Intern Get Together • Dweck Auditorium Programs
• Library Field Trips • GameSpace Workshops

57. Chat Session with Nick Higgins (PULSE graduate!!),
Correctional Services Librarian, NYPL

61. Summer Internships
General Projects:
“Front-line” & “behind-the-scenes" work
@:
-Languages & Literature & Youth Wing
-Office of Library Technology
-Collection Development
-Programs & Exhibitions
-Youth & Family Services
-Volunteer Services
-Brooklyn Collection

62. Summer Internships, continued:
Specific Projects:
• Represented BPL at NYC Digital Waves Youth
Media Festival & other events
• PowerUP! Business Plan Competition
• "Then and Now" photography project
• Booklists
• Website

64. Some Student Reflections:
• “My expectations have changed drastically. I thought that
I would only be dealing with books, but now I know that I
can give my opinion and exchange ideas of what I would
like to see in the library.”
• “My expectations of the library is no longer just about it
being a place where you check out books and use the
computer. I’ve learned that the library offers many
opportunities for children, adults who live here, and
people who are new to the country.”
• “I did not expect to actually become interested in the
librarian profession.”
• “It’s a hard job. The librarians do more than I have
expected them to do. They do a lot for the community,
which is very good.”

65. Benefits & Reasons for
Becoming Mentors:
• Working with teens/wanting to be positive role models:
“I’m really interested in engaging teens in the library in
ways that place them in more active, creative roles.”
• Paying it forward:
“I want to be a mentor because I started here as a trainee
and know first-hand the importance of a good internship
experience.”
• Hope to develop new skills themselves:
“Professionally, [I hope to] develop leadership skills and
build confidence [and] get a fresh perspective from the
mentee.”

66. Additional Benefits & Reasons:
• Useful extra help at their branches:
“We hope our branch will benefit from the help of an
enthusiastic intern, who will have a chance to assist in
after-school programming.”
• Chance to present librarianship as an attractive career:
“I like the idea of recruiting our next generation of
librarians now. I think that the skills the interns get in the
library will help them in any career path they choose.”
• Finally:
“The obvious benefits for the intern, community, and the
library make this an opportunity I could not miss
exploring.”

68. “Early Days,” but…
• 10 MIP alumni have become part-time staffers.
(Would be more, but…)
• About 10 have joined the T4 volunteer program
(Today’s Teens, Tomorrow’s Techies).
• Many MIP alumni continue to be active at BPL,
i.e. Great American Book Drive & author chats.
(Note: Because of time constraints, ask us later
about OBE (Outcome-Based Evaluations)).

69. Successes and Unexpected Lessons
• Help the mentors!
• Develop a supportive team
• Being the “other adult” in the
teens’ lives
• Advocates for the library
• Confidence and leadership
building
• Bonding between mentors and
interns
• Boost of energy to Brooklyn
Public Library
• What’s possible with a captive
audience
• The MIP Map blog and wiki
(“SELL IT!!)

72. This project was made possible by a grant
from the U.S. Institute of Museum and
Library Services, which is the primary
source of federal support for the nation's
122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The
Institute's mission is to create strong
libraries and museums that connect
people to information and ideas.

73. So many people to thank,
Soooo little time,…

74. Summary

75. Your Turn - Break into discussion groups
Group 1: “Design It!” Group 3: “Keep It Going!”
If you were to design and What would be the best
implement your own library ways to recruit, develop,
diversity program, what and retain a diverse
would it encompass? librarian staff?
Group 2: “Pitch It!” Group 4: “Grow Them!”
How would you pitch and How do we grow library
sell your library diversity diversity throughout all titles
ideas to management, and stages of the librarian
administration and potential profession, through legacy
funders? building and succession
planning?

76. What have we learned?
• Summary from each group
• Gallery Walk (Post-it notes)
• Evaluations
• Q&A