Diversity in the American Library Association

Diversity in the American Library Association
By Kristin Bussell

The American Library Association originated in October of 1876 in Philadelphia. In summarizing the organization’s mission, it can be said that ALA aims to serve in the advancement of libraries and librarians. According to the online mission statement, by achieving this goal ALA hopes “to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.”

When I first read this last section of ALA’s mission statement I put emphasis on the word ‘all’. Noting that the organization was founded in 1876 and recalling historical issues of gender and racial suppression I imagine that the ‘all’ we think of today was not in fact the ‘all’ that ALA’s original founders intended.

This led me to search their website for efforts at garnering diverse patrons, contributors and employees. My search culminated with the ALA’s Office for Diversity webpage. As exemplified in the Office for Diversity’s mission statement, ALA is clearly fostering a PR diversity campaign.

ALA promotes awareness of diversity through events such as the annual ALA Midwinter meeting and the Annual Conference. They also reach out to their target audience for input and feedback via the use of a diversity wiki. (I didn’t even know what a wiki was or that I often use one (Wikipedia) until I ‘googled’ the term.)

ALA also promotes diversity in what they categorize as their ‘initiatives and projects’. For example, the Spectrum Scholarship aims to recruit librarians from diverse ethnic backgrounds. In addition, ALA offers research grants for those interested in studying diversity. One last project I’ll mention that the ALA Office for Diversity sponsors is a “day-long intensive workshop on the fundamentals of diversity.” This includes speakers on diversity such as Dr. Clara M. Chu and Mark Winston.

Pictured at left: Dr. Clara M. Chu

Pictured at Right: Mark Winston

In short, ALA is participating in an on-going, never-ending sort of PR campaign about diversity. Their resources for education on the topic promote awareness; and their events/projects are not only actions for diversity promotion but they aim to encourage positive attitudes about diversity.

Hats off to the ALA Office for Diversity!