Proceedings of the First National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color - 241

would need to make a greater effort in supporting current students of color. In regards to the recruitment, several strategies that ethnic minorities think effective have been identified. The top ten recruitment strategies can be divided into three groups: (1) Diversity in faculty/staff and students/alumni, (2) Financial support and work/career opportunity, and (3) Active recruitment including advertisement and personal contacts. The first group (Diversity) consists of four strategies: (1) Ethnic diversity of faculty in the LIS school/program, (2) Role models from ethnic groups; (3) Presence of faculty and staff of color in the recruitment process; and (4) Presence of alumni of color in the recruitment process. The second group (Financial support and work opportunity) comprises another four strategies: (1) Assistantship/ scholarship/financial aid; (2) Opportunities to work in LIS-related fields; (3) Special programs (Opportunities to work with LIS faculty, graduate students, or librarians); and (4) Availability of career services/job placement in the LIS school/program. The third group (Active recruitment) consists of two strategies: (1) Communication/Advertising in media, publications for people of color; and (2) Active solicitation and personal contacts from the LIS school/program. Apparently, using role models and/or authoritative figures of color for the recruitment is critically important (Alire, 1996; Buttlar & Caynon, 1992). If students see role models from ethnic minority groups in their everyday life, and also during the recruitment process, they would be able to relate themselves more easily to the model figures and the field where the role models work. They would also feel more confident about their success in the field. Underscoring the importance of role models, one of the participants wrote, “I once had a little girl tell me that she wanted to be a librarian. I wonder if she would have said that had I not been there to show her that little African American girls can grow up to be Librarians.” In order to have more diverse role models, of course, we will need to produce and hire more librarians and faculty of color. Other important strategies are related to financial and career support. For most students, it is important that they can support their studies financially, and get a job upon graduation. If LIS schools/programs can provide students with these (e.g., offering financial aid/scholarship or part-time work opportunities; providing career service/job placement), such schools/programs will be more successful in recruiting students of color. The importance of financial aid in recruitment and retention is well known and confirmed in several other studies (Buttlar & Caynon,1992; Wheeler & Hanson, 1995; McCook & Lippincott, 1997). It was interesting to find that offering special programs to support collaboration between students of color and LIS faculty/students was among the frequently suggested strategies in this study. In fact, this kind of program can achieve several objectives at the same time. Through such programs, students can learn what the LIS field is about. They can also meet with some authoritative figures, who can be their role models, as well as mentors. In addition, the entire experience would be rewarding intellectually as well as financially. It would be worthwhile if LIS schools/programs were to consider offering such special programs. Finally, the importance of active recruitment cannot be overly emphasized. Many participants responded that they had not seen any visible efforts for recruiting students of color, made by their LIS programs. Better communication and advertisement of LIS programs, particularly in media/ publications of color, and also active solicitation of students of color (including personal contacts) are obviously key strategies; and these were also suggested in previous studies (Buttlar & Caynon, 1992; Wheeler & Hanson, 1995). In addition, as many participants agreed, presenting LIS programs in undergraduate classes and high school would be helpful. In general, there was a general consensus in terms of effective recruitment strategies. However, it should also be noted that some differences exist among ethnic groups in the strategies they view to be effective. For example, presenting LIS programs in high schools and also advertising LIS programs in media/publications for people of color were perceived to be effective by AfricanAmericans. For Native Americans, offering distant education option was viewed as important. Both groups regarded the use of recruitment materials developed for students of color as one of the most effective strategies. On the other hand, Hispanics perceived that having a system reinforcing diversity/anti-discrimination in LIS programs is effective for recruitment. Although these ethnic groups were lumped together as the “minority,” it seems obvious that they have different views and might need different recruitment/retention 241

Proceedings of the First National Joint Conference of Librarians of Color

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