National Library of Medicine Announces 2013-2014 Associate Fellows
I’m looking forward to meeting everyone in September!
Eight-and-a-half weeks until I leave my current job. Three months until I start the fellowship. :)
A little over a week ago, there was an interesting editorial published in Library Journal. I read it when it first came out, but I have been taking some time to think about this issue. In “The MLS and the Race Line“, Michael Kelly criticizes current methods of recruiting minorities to library science.
Many efforts to diversify the ranks of librarians focus on well-intentioned but expensive projects to recruit a small number of aspiring students who may, or may not, become long-term members of the profession. … If the library world wants to create more quickly a persistently diverse workforce of librarians, it should devote more of such grant money to minorities who already are committed library workers but who remain at a lower level because they may lack the wherewithal to attend graduate school.
He uses the Association of Research Libraries’ (ARL) diversity programs as an example, specifically targeting the Initiative to Recruit a Diverse Workforce (IRDW), and ARL’s recent collaboration with the Society of American Archivists to provide a scholarship. As a recipient of two diversity scholarships (ARL’s IRDW and ALA Spectrum), I was a bit taken aback by Mr. Kelly’s assertions that these type of programs may be misguided or ineffective. Mark Puente, the ARL’s director of diversity and leadership programs posted a great response to the editorial with some stats on the success in retention of past scholarship participants.
Here are some of my thoughts:
- He implies that the recipients of these scholarships are not already library workers. Of course, not everyone is. But looking at my IRDW cohort, most of us are currently working or interning in libraries and information centers. We have hands-on experience, and we are committed to this career path. There is nothing preventing library workers from qualifying for the existing diversity scholarships.
- I think that providing a diversity scholarship program specifically for library workers is a GOOD idea. Kelly points out in his editorial that 27 percent of library assistants are minorities. So I agree that this is a good pool of people to recruit from. They already have some experience and practical understanding of what it’s like to work in a library or information center setting. ALA does provide some scholarships for support staff that are open to everyone. At the moment there are no diversity scholarships geared towards paraprofessionals that I am aware of. However, I think this type of scholarship program should be in addition to existing programs, and not replace them.
- He implies that most minority paraprofessionals are not pursuing a master’s degree because of the cost. Finances are a huge factor, but not all paraprofessionals want to become librarians. I have been working in a public library system for 3.5 years, and I was initially surprised by the number of library associates (who perform many of the same tasks as librarians) who are content in their paraprofessional position. For me, it was just a stepping stone to a professional position. However, some choose not to pursue the degree because they are happy with what they are doing now. Others are not sure that they want to stay in the library field as a long-term career. There are also those who become paraprofessionals as a second career after retiring from something else. Recently, I have spoken to two of my (minority) colleagues who are in their thirties and have been working as library associates longer than I have, but are still considering a change to other career paths. They told me they don’t want to invest the time and money for a degree in a field that they are not sure they want to commit to long-term.
- The library job market is still tough and very competitive right now. Being a library worker before starting the degree does not guarantee the opportunity to immediately transfer to a professional position post-degree. Some libraries are reducing the number of MLS-degreed positions that are available. Also, not all librarians that are of retirement age, are retiring. So this limits the available opportunities too.
- There are other ways to use a library science degree besides the traditional library setting. If someone ends up becoming an analyst for the CIA, or a knowledge manager, or a competitive intelligence analyst for a corporation, are they also considered “failed attempts” at recruiting too? How are we measuring success and retention? That is what I was a little confused about. Does someone have to stay in a library-related field for the rest of their life to be counted as a success? The ARL’s IRDW scholarship requires that the scholarship recipient work in one of the ARL member libraries for a minimum of two years after graduation. There is a level of understanding though, that this depends on the availability of open positions. Should diversity scholarships in general include a requirement that recipients remain in the library field for a certain number of years?
Diversity recruitment and retention is a complex issue. We don’t have all the answers yet. Even though this editorial ruffled some feathers, it’s needed. We have to talk about it, and work together to come up with multiple methods of accomplishing the goal of having a diverse workforce that reflects our user communities.
What are your thoughts and experiences with diversity issues in librarianship?
Graduation was today. I now have my Master of Science in Library and Information Science. I’m done–so HAPPY!
Side note: My school provides the gown and hood as a rental, so I returned them after the ceremony. Then later, my aunts said I should have asked to purchase the hood. Because I may need it later if I ever participate in a graduation again as a faculty member, or if I’m ever asked to speak at a graduation ceremony in the future (yes, my fam sets high expectations :p ). This thought never crossed my mind. I didn’t know people kept their hoods. For the master’s graduates out there — did you keep/purchase your hood? Have you used it again?
Good news, no, GREAT news! On April 26th, I interviewed for the National Library of Medicine Associate Fellowship. They made their decision really quickly. On Tuesday, April 30th, I was notified that I was selected for the program. Of course I accepted! There will be a total of five fellows this year, and we will start in September.
So this means that I will be leaving my job in the public library in a few months. I’m so excited and ready for this next step in my career. September can’t get here soon enough!
At the moment, my plan is to continue my current job until the end of July. Then take the month of August “off” to relax and visit family/friends before the fellowship begins. So far, my finances are looking good to be able to cover my expenses for the month I will not be working.
I’m still interning with the NRC Library. I haven’t set an ending date yet, but will probably wrap it up at the end of this month. During the NLM interview day, I met with Joyce Backus, Associate Director for Library Operations. We talked about this internship, and she questions about selection criteria and whether there are written guidelines (since part of what I do is select internet resources). Well, there aren’t. So I went back and talked with my internship supervisor, and now my current project is writing a set of guidelines so there will be consistency and continuity with future interns.
I have one final exam left to take (it’s take-home and I’m totally procrastinating), and my graduation ceremony is in less than two weeks. I will come back soon and maybe do a post talking about how I prepared for applying and interviewing for the fellowship. I also want to talk about my experience as an ARL scholarship recipient this year.
Did I mention — I’m SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!
Has it really been almost a month since my last post?? Wow, I have had several ideas in my head for posts, but I can’t seem to find the time to sit down and type them out. Sigh.
Let’s see, what has been going on with me?
- March 13th, I attended a Medical Library Association webcast at Howard University, entitled “Partnering to Prevent Diagnostic Error: Librarians on the Inside Track”. It was really interesting, and shared how medical librarians can assist medical professionals in preventing diagnostic error. I promise I will come back and write more about it….soon.
- March 15th – 17th, I took my comprehensive exam, which determines if I will receive my degree. I won’t find out until April 25th if I passed. I think I did. I hope I did, because I have no desire to repeat that experience.
- So I’m on the job hunt. I have applied to two fellowship programs, three academic medical libraries, and two librarian positions within the public library system where I currently work. Even though my interest is health sciences, I want to cover all my bases and apply to open positions at my current job, just in case what I prefer doesn’t work out right away.
- One of the fellowship programs sent me a rejection email, I didn’t make it to the interview round. However, the other fellowship program did select me for an interview. Yaaay! My interview is not until later on this month though. All the other applications, I have yet to hear anything.
The rest of my life is just work and school. I have two term projects to complete for school. Only about five more weeks left until I finish all my coursework.
As for work, here is my April book display for Financial Literacy Awareness Month:
Money, money, money!
Those are all my updates for now. I will try very hard not to let another month pass before I post again.
This post is a part of the Library Student Day In The Life Project, Round 1. It’s a great opportunity for library science students from around the world to share about their experiences in school and at work.
I attend The Catholic University of America part-time, and I will be graduating in May (yaay!!!). My school is on spring break this week, but as my fellow students know, the homework doesn’t stop just because we’re on break. 
Currently, I work full-time as a Library Associate II for a public library system. I am also on the job hunt, as I would like to switch from public librarianship to health sciences librarianship.
Today was a very grey and cold, snowy/rainy/windy day. Schools and local governments were closed due to the winter storm watch. However, my library system remained open (despite other surrounding library systems closing for the day). I started the morning feeling a little bummed about not getting a snow day off, but the weather turned out to not be as bad as predicted. The snow didn’t stick in my area and turned to rain before the day was over.
My library opened at 12 noon, and the neighborhood children were already waiting at the door. I spent most of the day babysitting sitting at the Children’s Info Desk. I received no reference questions, just requests for additional time on the computers. So to pass the time, I have been reading blogs, and following other people’s #HLSDITL tweets. It’s almost 6pm now, and we have two more hours before closing.
I think I should probably be a little more productive and spend the last couple of hours maybe reviewing some journal articles for my upcoming comps exam. My library science program requires a comprehensive exam in order to graduate. The exam is based on material covered in the four core classes. The format is a 2,500 word research paper. On March 15th at 9:00 am, the research question will be released on Blackboard. Then we have until March 17th at 9:00 am to write and submit the paper. It is open book, but still we are expected to prepare in advance by re-familiarizing ourselves with the core class topics and also recent trends in library science.
I have been preparing already, but I’m still nervous. Not so much about writing a paper, but because I don’t know the topic yet, and there is a strict 48-hour time limit. *Tries not to feel stressed due to procrastinator tendencies.* I can do this …. but I’ll be so much happier when it’s over. Sigh.
My mother has asked what I want to do to celebrate my graduation. I honestly don’t know, and I don’t really care right now. I can’t wrap my mind around that thought right now. I just need to FINISH.
This post is a part of the Library Student Day In The Life Project, Round 1. It’s a great opportunity for library science students from around the world to share about their experiences in school and at work.
I attend The Catholic University of America part-time, and I will be graduating in May (yaay!!!). My school is on spring break this week, but as my fellow students know, the homework doesn’t stop just because we’re on break. Currently, I work full-time as a Library Associate II for a public library system. I am also on the job hunt, as I would like to switch from public librarianship to health sciences librarianship.
I started out the day working on a homework project. I am taking a course called “Marketing Libraries and Information Services”, and we are required to complete a 40-hour field study on behalf of a host institution. This allows us to apply the principles and skills we are learning to a real-life marketing situation. I chose to work with a local public school system’s Professional Library. This Professional Library serves all the staff of the public school system, but they are especially concerned about the low usage among teachers. I am conducting an online survey of the teaching staff, hoping to discover 1) why the non-users don’t use the library 2) how satisfied the users are with the Library’s services and 3) the teachers’ preferences for receiving news from the Library. I was nervous that maybe none of the teachers would respond to the survey. However, the survey went live this morning, and by this afternoon there were already over 100 responses. Yeesss!! I plan on keeping the survey open until the end of next week.
More than 100 responses so far — sigh of relief!
Most of my work day was spent on the reference desk (or the info desk as we call it). I mostly answered the phone and assisted patrons with the use of the computers and printer. The only real reference question came from two sisters who needed biographies for their history homework. They both admitted they weren’t really paying attention in class though. One was looking for information on Francisco Franco, who she thought was a dictator from France. Turns out he was from Spain. The other was looking for Ali Juan Muhammad, who she says was a dictator (or political leader). But she could not remember where he was from, or what time in history that he lived. Sigh. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything. I suspect she may have his name spelled incorrectly. So I told her to double-check with her teacher (or her text book) and call us back tomorrow.
A display of books I put together for National Nutrition Month
I’m sort of in charge of instruction at my branch. We offer several computer classes for adults, and I teach most of them. Today, I printed out the sign-up sheet for April classes (most of the March classes are already full!), and emailed reminders to my co-workers about class details and who is teaching what. I also made reminder phone calls to all the participants in tomorrow’s class.
Let’s see, anything else? Oh, and today my supervisor asked me to be our branch’s contact person for the summer reading program. So all the summer reading materials and updates will be sent to me, and I will share the information with my co-workers.
So that was my day. It’s 7:30 pm, and the library will be closing in thirty minutes. Time to start making announcements for the patrons to prepare to leave!
