The Lack of African American Librarians in the United States

Abstract

In the United States, the field of Librarianship has historically been dominated by white individuals. Despite the significant contributions that African American librarians and other organizations have made to the profession, they have often faced discrimination and barriers to advancement. African American librarians have faced a major challenge of discrimination, funding for education, job representation, and mentorship. In many cases, African American librarians have been underrepresented in library administration and have had limited opportunities to advance to positions of power and influence within the profession. So much work needs to be done in the library industry to place more African Americans in the Liberian role. I will explore African American librarian struggles during the Jim Crow era, bookshelf diversity, and recent experience pursuing Librarianship. A big part of my research is interviewing two groups of librarians-3 white and 2 black librarians. All librarians were asked the following questions. 1) What made you enroll in the MLIS program? 2) How was your experience finding your first Librarian job after completing your MLIS degree? 3) What are your thoughts on the lack of African American Librarians in this profession? 4) In your role as a Librarian, how do you make sure literature written by POC is promoted to patrons? 5) Do you have any ideas about how you and other Librarians can recruit more Librarians of color? 6) Lastly, how would you feel about Librarians offering mentorship program for students who are thinking about pursuing Librarianship? Instead of enrolling into the MLIS program and spending money on a graduate program that they are on the fence about. African American Librarians in history have paved many paths for a society with more black people in Librarianship. The results from the interviews prove how white people are now advocating for more African American people in the field, and they strongly agree there is a lack of African Americans in Librarianship.