Abstract
Nearly 80% of American librarians are women. Similarly, the majority of American librarians are White; people of color – e.g., African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latino Americans – represent a small percentage of the U.S. library work-force. Throughout history, library leadership positions, regardless of the type of library (e.g., academic, public, or special), have been held by White males. This library leadership landscape was significantly altered following the enactment of a number of progressive laws and affirmative action programs, starting with the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The problem, however, is that not every underrepresented group benefits from these laws and programs (hereafter policies). In fact, based on the present study, it appears that these policies have done little to help increase the number of people of color who are library directors in some of America’s largest and most prestigious academic libraries.
References
Adams, S. (2019, September 26). The world university rankings: An expert list of the world’s
best universities. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2018/09/26/an-expert-list-of-the-worlds-best-universities/#46d7a1164f02 Accessed 23 April 2020.
Association of Research Libraries. (2020). 2018-2018 ARL Library Fellows.
https://arl.secure.nonprofitsoapbox.com/focus-areas/arl-academy/leadership-development-programs/arl-leadership-fellows-program/2859-arl-leadership-fellows#.X5siXohKg2w Accessed 29 October 2020.
Dewey, B. I. (2009). The imperative for diversity: ARL’s progress and role. Portal: Libraries
and the Academy, 9(3), 355-361.
Dewey, B., & Keally, J. (2008). Recruiting for diversity: Strategies for twenty-first century
research librarianship. Library Hi Tech, 26(4), 622-629.
Deyrup, M. M. (2004). Is the revolution over? Gender, economic, and professional parity in
academic library leadership positions. College & Research Libraries, 65(3), 242-250.
Epps, S. K. (2008). African American Women leaders in academic research libraries. portal:
Libraries and the Academy, 8(3), 255-272.
German, L., Owen, V., Parchuck, J., & Sandore, B. (2012). RLLF in the rear-view mirror: A
report on the impact and value of the ARL Academic Library Leadership Fellows program. Journal of Library Administration, 49(8), 795-809.
Hollis, D. R. (1999). Affirmative action or increased competition: A look at women and minority
library deans. Journal of Library Administration, 27(1&2), 49-75.
Jaschik, S. (2018, September 10). The ‘U.S. News’ rankings’ (faux) embrace social mobility.
Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/09/10/us-news-says-it-has-shifted-rankings-focus-social-mobility-has-it Accessed 11 May 2020.
Le, P. (2015). Attainment of academic library leadership by Asian Americans: Challenges and
development. The Proceedings of the Association of College and Research Libraries Conference. Portland, Oregon, 28-39.
Leading Change Institute. (2020). Distinguished Alumni.
https://leadingchangeinstitute.org/alumni/#2018 Accessed 29 October 2020.
Moran, B. (1985). The impact of affirmative action on academic libraries. Library Trends,
(2), 200.
Moran, B. B., Leonard, E., & Zellers, J. (2009). Women administrators in academic libraries:
Three decades of change. Library Trends, 58(2), 215-228.
Morse, R., & Vega-Rodriguez, J. (2019). How U.S. News calculated the best global universities
rankings. U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/articles/methodology Accessed 18 April 2020.
Neely, T. Y. (2009). Assessing diversity initiatives: The ARL Leadership and Career
Development Program. Journal of Library Administration, 49(8), 811-835.
Nietzel, M. T. (2019, October 26). U.S. News names its best global universities: American
institutions are at the top. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2019/10/26/us-news-releases-its-best-global-universities-rankings-american-institutions-are-at-the-top/#ea6a23946e39 Accessed 28 May 2020.
Nietzel, T. Y. (2019, September 9). U.S. News releases its annual college rankings: Here’s what
wrong with them. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2019/09/09/us-news-releases-its-annual-college-ranking-heres-whats-wrong-with-it/#2d359839a5c1 Accessed April 20, 2020.
Rivera, L. A. (2012). Hiring as cultural matching: The case of elite professional service
firms. American Sociological Review, 77(6), 999-1022.
Schonfeld, R. C., & Sweeney, L. (2017). Inclusion, diversity, and equity: Members of the
Association of Research Libraries: Employee demographics and director perspectives. New York, NY: The Mellon W. Foundation.
Sullivan, C. J. (1996). Affirmative action and women in academic libraries: How far have we
come? Master’s Thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Tierney, J. (2013, September 10). Your annual reminder to ignore the U.S. News & World Report
College Rankings. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/your-annual-reminder-to-ignore-the-em-us-news-world-report-em-college-rankings/279103/ Accessed 11 May 2020.
U.S. News & World Report. (2019). Best global universities rankings. U.S. News & World
Report. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/rankings Accessed 20 May 2020.
U.S. News & World Report. (2019). U.S. News unveils 2019 best global universities.
https://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/articles/2018-10-30/us-news-unveils-2019-best-global-universities-rankings Accessed 21 May 2020.
Times Higher Education. (2019). World university rankings 2019.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2019/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats Accessed 28 April 2020.
Zhou, J., & Lim, A. (2012, September 19-23). Mapping the landscape of career advancement for
minorities in libraries. A paper presented at the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color. Kansas City, MO.
Zhou, J. (2012). Leadership achievement gap of Asian/Pacific American librarians. Doctoral
dissertation. California State University, Sacramento.
http://csus-dspace.calstate.edu/handle/10211.9/1890 Accessed 15 June 2020.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright (c) 2021 International Journal of Librarianship