BIPOC Become Librarians

BIPOC Become Librarians (BBL) was created in response to the ongoing lack of diversity in the library and archives professions. In 2020, just 9.5% of librarians identified as Black or African American, 9.9% as Hispanic or Latino (of any race), and 3.5% as Asian-American or Pacific Islander. The most recent comprehensive survey of the archival profession was conducted in 2006, but similarly found that just 7% of archivists identified as people of color. 

Reasons for the lack of diversity in library and archives professions are as numerous as they are nuanced. Studies over the years have noted the social, economic and cultural barriers, as well as the lack of support BIPOC students face when entering library and archives professions. As a result, graduates of LIS programs often do not reflect the communities they serve, which impacts how librarians engage, provide services to and represent their communities.

BIPOC Become Librarians (BBL) exposed more BIPOC students to Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) career paths by focusing on the two areas with the most impact on increasing diversity: mentorship and internship. 

BBL’s project goals benefited from SJSU and SJPL’s location in Santa Clara County and the City of San José, the most diverse metro area in the country, which directly enhanced our ability to conduct outreach to BIPOC undergraduate students both in schools and in the community. 

Across the two years of the grant, we worked with 20 undergraduate students who were paired with seven mentors. Students were also given the opportunity to participate in a paid internship program that exposed them to library operations.

The cohort of students who participated in our BBL mentorship program benefited from this program, but the beneficiaries of BBL also include our immediate partners, who gained visibility in the short-term, and the broader community, who gained richer engagement with more diverse perspectives. We anticipate our partner SJSU iSchool will experience a higher number of applications for its MLIS program, which will lead to an increase in BIPOC graduates holding MLIS degrees entering the librarian and archival professions. This will result in our partner SJPL, along with many other library systems nationwide, to be able to recruit and hire from a larger pool of MLIS graduates who are BIPOC, which will help them increase diversity in their own libraries as well as in the librarian and archival workforce.

What is more, in the long-term, our work with BIPOC undergraduate students in BBL will help expose more students to an MLIS degree and LIS as a viable career choice. Our target group’s potential entry into LIS careers will increase diversity in the librarian profession and expand the community’s view and engagement with librarians from diverse backgrounds. Public library patrons of large library systems similar to SJPL will be able to engage with librarians who represent the BIPOC community and can bring a deeper and richer perspective to the LIS workforce. As a result, libraries overall will benefit from diversity in their workforce to meet the needs of the broader communities they serve and represent. Other sectors that hire MLIS graduates will also benefit from a growing pool of BIPOC candidates.