{"id":22095,"date":"2019-08-26T18:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T18:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/?p=22095"},"modified":"2019-08-31T22:27:06","modified_gmt":"2019-08-31T22:27:06","slug":"ldrs-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/2019\/08\/26\/ldrs-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"OMA at the 2019 LDRS Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This week the OMA attended the first ever Library Diversity and Residency Studies (LDRS) Conference<\/a> in Greensboro, North Carolina. The conference focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in libraries, including but not restricted to Library Diversity Residency programs. The conference was hosted by UNC Greensboro in collaboration with the ACRL Diversity Alliance and the Association of Southeastern Research Libraries (ASERL). The LDRS brought together individuals from academic and public libraries, LIS programs, and other interested groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natalia Fern\u00e1ndez, Curator of the Oregon Multicultural Archives & OSU Queer Archives, as well as the Supervisor of the OSULP Diversity Scholars Program (DSP)<\/a>, gave a presentation on the DSP as part of the panel “Best Practices in Establishing Library Diversity Residency Programs” – below are her presentation slides and notes…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My name is Natalia Fern\u00e1ndez and I\nam the supervisor of the Oregon State University\nLibraries\u2019 Diversity\nScholars Program.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To\ngive you an overview of what I plan to share with you -\u2013 first, I will give\nsome local context for our program by sharing information about Oregon, Oregon\nState University, the OSU Libraries, and about me. Then, the bulk of my\npresentation will consist of information about the development and\nimplementation of the DSP, along with some of our challenges faced and lessons\nlearned, as well as our plans for the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to Oregon\u2019s 2018 population estimate, 26% of the people of living in the state identify as people of color. At OSU, in the 2018-2019 academic year, students of color accounted for just over 25% of about 31,000 students. The OSU Libraries main campus in Corvallis, with 2 branch libraries on the coast and in Central Oregon, employs over 70 Faculty\/Staff, along with dozens of student employees. Both the state of Oregon and Oregon State University have a dark history in its treatment of people of color as well as LGBTQIA communities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My primary job as the curator of the Oregon Multicultural Archives and OSU Queer Archives, a position which I have been in since late 2010, is to collaborate with LGBTQIA and communities of color to empower them to preserve, share, and celebrate their stories in an effort to both document that dark history and showcase the perseverance and accomplishments of these communities in their journey toward social justice. My work includes collection development, instruction, exhibit curation, reference, and other typical duties of an archivist. Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, I am the supervisor of the Diversity Scholars Program and the chair of the DSP Committee.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Within the state of Oregon there is no university with a masters in library science program. Over the years, our library has employed graduate students obtaining their MLIS degrees, either from hybrid or online-only programs, through paid positions as well as for-credit internships and practicums. However, prior to the DSP, our library had never proactively engaged in the  recruitment and employment of MLIS students of color. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our program aims to actively create a more diverse and inclusive Library Sciences field by providing extensive support and mentorship for students of color who are pursuing their MLIS degree online. The DSP provides a paid, hands-on experience within the profession to broaden the students\u2019 opportunities after completion of their graduate degree. Established in 2015 and implemented in 2018, the program provides the scholars with experiences in the areas of their choosing, along with opportunities for professional development, scholarship, and service within an academic library setting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Research ~ In\nthe spring of 2015 our University Librarian charged a team of three librarians\nwith investigating the options that the library had to create a diversity\nresident librarian position. The library sought to create such a position to\npromote diversity within our profession, reflect the changing demographics\namong our students, and to increase opportunities for diverse candidates to\nexplore academic librarianship. The team examined what other academic research\nlibraries have done, spoke with diversity resident scholars, and reviewed the\nrelevant literature.\nThe group wrote a white paper for the Library Administration Management and\nPlanning group that the University Librarian leads to document their findings\nand offer recommendations about what might work best for our library. Based\nupon feedback from current and former resident scholars, along with the makeup\nof already\nexisting opportunities\nwithin librarianship, the team decided to recommend the creation of a program\nwhose positions would support current and local MLS students of color, not\npost-graduates. Our library administration agreed, and a\ncall went out to recruit volunteers for the next phase of the DSP creation\nprocess. By November 2015, a DSP Committee had been\nformed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Development ~ DSP Committee members were especially inspired by April Hathcock\u2019s 2015 article  “White Librarianship in Blackface: Diversity Initiatives in LIS” in which she explains how diversity programs, especially the application process, are coded to promote whiteness, and the need to mentor early career librarians in both playing at and dismantling whiteness within the profession. We knew that we needed to think about the full cycle of the program: the recruitment and application process to encourage people of color to pursue a career in librarianship, the program experience itself to include a strong mentorship competent, support in the job search for program participants, and continued support in the post MLIS experience. In order to more fully develop our program ideas, the committee hosted a one time paid internship for the summer of 2016 to serve as a smaller scale version of how we envisioned the program. After that, we began meeting with our Human Resources contact to develop the position, secured funding from our university librarian, developed a position description, and began the promotion and recruitment process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To\nfully implement the program, the DSP Committee created a website, used an\ninternal wiki space to communicate and document activities, and created a\npromotional brochure. The members of the committee represent the majority of\nthe departments in the library and serve as advocates for the program, as well\nas mentors and personal contacts for the scholars. The committee works to\nrecruit potential future scholars and sends weekly updates to the library\u2019s\nadministrative group to keep them excited and updated about the program.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nprogram is set up so scholars have the opportunity to work a full 18 months in\nthe library. They work 30 weeks per 9 month appointment at 20 hours per week.\nIn addition to their salary, they receive $2500 in professional development\nfunds to attend conferences or other relevant activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nDiversity Scholars position description is formatted in the same was as it is\nfor our tenure track librarians \u2013 they are expected to attend library-wide and\nrelevant departmental meetings, work on their scholarship, and serve on\ncommittees. They each have their own cubicle space and are treated as\ncolleagues.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our\nfirst Diversity Scholar just recently completed her 18 month appointment in the\nprogram, our second scholar will begin her second 9 month appointment in\nOctober, and our third scholar begins in October as well. All\nthree of the Diversity Scholars are Latinx women in their mid-to-late 20s, and\ntwo of the three scholars were library student employees and OSU undergrads.\nThe first two scholars chose to focus on teaching and engagement, as well as\npublic services activities, and we know that our third scholar has an interest\nin archives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Diversity Scholars are expected\nto engage in the primary assignment duties of an academic librarian. As examples, the scholars have\nworked with students in the library\u2019s writing studio, taught library\ninformation sessions and workshops, tabled at events, worked the reference\ndesk, complied and analyzed library data, and participated in library wide as well\nas relevant departmental meetings. As a part of developing their\nscholarship, the scholars have attended\nand presented at local Oregon\nconferences,\nnational ones like ALA, and even one international conference. They have also served on a variety\nof library committees such as the library awards committee, search committees,\nand the library employee association.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nsupport our scholars, we make sure that they know that their MLIS studies come\nfirst and they are strongly encouraged to use their work experiences for class\nprojects. And, we offer a flexible work schedule so they can best manage their\ntime. Scholars are given the opportunity to experience the full scope of an\nacademic library, working in all of our departments and meeting with\nadministrators. They are then able to determine their areas of focus. I meet\nwith the scholars on a weekly basis, and the other members of the DSP Committee\nalso meet with them informally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An\nexperience that occurred with our first scholar – that we plan to duplicate\nwith the other scholars – is to mentor the scholars through the job search\nprocess. Our first scholar used the majority of her last 10 weeks in the\nprogram to apply for jobs and participate in job interviews. The Committee\nreviewed her cover letters, prepped her for phone interviews, and edited her\non-campus presentation materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Challenges\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nlisted recruitment and salary together because they are very much intertwined.\nWhile the position does include healthcare coverage, the salary is low,\nespecially for the cost of living in Corvallis. We have no funds to assist with\nrelocation costs so the Committee feels it would be a disservice to ask someone\nto move to Corvallis with no promise of assistance with moving costs.\nTherefore, our recruits have been students who are already living in the\nCorvallis commuter area. Another challenge to recruitment is because there is\nno in-state MILS program, the students we are recruiting into the profession\nare having to pay out-of-state tuition costs. Therefore, it is essential for us\nas a Committee to not only let students know of scholarship opportunities, but\nto actively help them in the application process \u2013 which we have done with some\nsuccess. So far, our first two Diversity Scholars have been selected as ALA\nSpectrum Scholars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One\nof my personal pet peeves is when colleagues call the Diversity Scholars\n\u201cinterns\u201d since the program is structured to treat them as colleagues to our\nacademic librarians. However, the reality is they are not being paid at that\nlevel so while we want them to have the same experiences of academic\nlibrarians, it is essential for us to not use them to cover the duties of\nsomeone at a much higher pay scale. We try to find the balance to this by\nmaking sure that the activities and projects the Scholars take on are of their\nchoosing and help them in building the resume they want that will benefit them\nin their future career.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\nchallenge the program faces is that while it was always the long-term goal that\nthe DSP would build a cohort among the scholars, the reality is that so far,\nbetween scheduling issues and difference in personalities, this has yet to\noccur, but the program is still very new, so we hope that as we continue\nbuilding the program, this will occur in the future.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly,\nwe are continuously working on developing and implementing meaningful\nassessment \u2013 as of now, we ask the scholars to maintain reflective journals and\nwrite self-evaluations of their work, and as their supervisor, I seek input\nfrom their peers. But in terms of long-term assessment, the Committee feels the\ntrue success of the program is whether or not the scholars find employment in\nan area of their choosing, as well as the long-term retention of the scholars\nin the profession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lessons\nLearned <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nterms of lessons learned, it has be incredibly important for us to secure and\nsustain administrative support. Our program is in the position that is was a\ntop down initiative, so while we have the support of our university librarian,\nit is still important for us to assess the program, write reports, and continue\nto advocate for the scholars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Developing\ndepartmental buy-in has been key to the success of this program. I keep the\nlibrary\u2019s administration, including department heads, updated weekly on the\nprogram, and I meet both formally and informally with them to ensure the\nprojects and activities of the scholars in other departments are going well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One\nof my main priorities as the Diversity Scholars\u2019 supervisor is to be their\nadvocate while also empowering them to advocate for themselves. I have\nconversations with them about the politics of not only the inter-workings of\nour library, but the professional as a whole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And\nlastly, one of our lessons learned has been for the need to practice strategic\nand proactive recruitment. We have plans for this year to connect with various\ngroups on campus to speak directly with undergraduate students about the\npossibility of working in libraries, archives, and other cultural heritage\ninstitutions as a potential career path. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In terms of our plans for the future, we will continue to support and mentor our first Diversity Scholar and look forward to seeing what comes next for her, and we are excited to host our 3rd Diversity Scholar and begin recruitment for our 4th<\/sup>.  As we have more people participate in the program, we hope to build a strong network among our Diversity Scholars. We are in conversation with our university librarian to secure permanent funding for the positions and raise the salary. In order to ensure the program\u2019s sustainability, we need to expand the DSP Committee membership, especially to include representatives from all of our departments. Lastly, we plan to continue and expand the assessment of the program\u2019s impact both for the library and for the scholars themselves.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To conclude, while we recognize that our program is only a small contribution to the profession, we see how it has a positive impact on our library, and most importantly, the lives of our diversity scholars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This week the OMA attended the first ever Library Diversity and Residency Studies (LDRS) Conference in Greensboro, North Carolina. The conference focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in libraries, including but not restricted to Library Diversity Residency programs. The conference … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6078,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1329592],"tags":[2690],"class_list":["post-22095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-oma","tag-conference"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6078"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22095"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22115,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22095\/revisions\/22115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/oregonmulticulturalarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}