by Gloria Meraz
Discussions of representation, equal opportunity, and diversity are not new to librarianship. In fact, the library community was one of the first professions to face the struggles of a changing workforce when, at the turn of century, women entered the field. The profession during the first half of the twentieth century had essentially two groups: the male leadership and the female ranks of practitioners. Through decades of hard work and unabashed infiltration, women assumed a strong leadership role in the profession and now comprise the majority of librarians. While this change redressed past inequities, it came with the debilitating effects of stereotypes. Though we joke about the image of little old ladies silencing people, few librarians welcome this blanket categorization. We work hard to dispel this notion by explaining how we are unlike that image. We understand that, in making plain what makes us different, we make clear who we are and what we do.
At its core, diversity concerns an availability of differences. As most of us recognize, libraries are all about diversityof viewpoints, choices, and values. Few professions other than librarianship have so purposefully or vigorously upheld these intellectual freedoms. Commitment to these intellectual freedoms makes librarians, in some sense, protectors of individual differences. In fact, much of our professional energy and discourse has concerned safeguarding an individual's right to experience the full range of intellectual choices available through libraries. Over the last 50 years, our work in giving value to these "differences" has primarily taken the form of two powerful ideologies freedom of expression and freedom of access. While fundamental to librarianship, these rights concern only a portion of the "differences" the library profession must protect. These differences address the intellectual components that make us all unique. But what of other factors that are equally integral in defining us as individuals?
Our genealogies, backgrounds, color, abilities, and choices shape us all "minority" and "majority" alike. While most people understand this fact, the national crisis over identity emerged from a pervasive element in our culture that aggrandized one kind of background and subjugated people from others. Even today, five decades after the start of the first civil rights legislation, diversity remains a difficult, sometimes controversial topic. Diversity is, regardless of the multiple ways of defining it, steeped in a history of intolerance and in a language of charged words: discrimination, affirmative action, and equal opportunity, for instance. It connotes many different images covering both social failures and successes. Today, the nation as a whole and certainly the library profession have progressed beyond the environment that so many people still remember from the 1950s and 1960s. Yet, we continue struggling to fill our nation's industries, educational institutions, and public forums with a representative workforce. We struggle also against the more pervasive causes of that underrepresentation.
Although the library field has had to overcome its own share of negative practices, it is a profession particularly well-suited to meet diversity's challenges. Socially conscientious, the library profession is a natural conduit for national priorities, including a demand for equality and a celebration of differences. Few other professions have such a direct role in preserving culture, documenting it, and making the voices of generations accessible. Through these activities, librarians make ongoing assessments of their communities both in the kinds of materials they collect and the practices they adopt to serve their constituents. By making choices that reflect their communities, librarians help build a critical measure of accuracy and fairness into that assessment process.
In the last 40 years, the library profession has labored (for the most part) to recruit minorities, create programs for underserved groups, and address the needs of all its stakeholders when building collections. In spite of these initiatives, the library profession still faces a shortage in minority representation and continues searching for new ways of connecting with historically underrepresented populations.
This issue of the Texas Library Journal looks at diversity in librarianship. It examines problems of and solutions for improving diversity in Texas libraries. The issue also highlights projects aimed at underrepresented users and offers some personal perspectives from librarians who have firsthand experience with the diversity movement. Herman Totten gives us a hard look at the future of the library workforce as he examines recruitment and retention. Emphasizing the role of strong management and leadership, Irene Owens discusses the challenges of creating and maintaining a progressive work environment. Mary Jo Venetis describes her determination to become a librarian in spite of her hearing impairment and demonstrates the universal passion librarians share for their work. Loriene Roy shows us the fruits of Native American library projects and the work of library groups to support programs aimed at representing and serving an important contingent of library users. Cesar Caballero brings a personal perspective to diversity as he recounts some of his early professional memories. And finally, John Moore describes some of the tools libraries can use to make library resources accessible to people with disabilities.
Clearly, the library community has a lot to say about diversity. We have concerns, strategies, opinions and, above all, a determination to make things better. Our library history is, if nothing more, a study of steadfast progress against great odds. Our strength comes in large measure from our commitment to protect intellectual freedoms. In keeping with this value, both the state and national library communities have identified diversity as a key action area, one that relates to our deepest professional ethics.
For five years, Mark Smith documented the achievements of his fellow librarians and the unprecedented changes occuring in the library and information science field. As editor of the Texas Library Journal, Mr. Smith brought clarity, energy, and insight to the ongoing work of the library community. The Journal reflects his high standards and committment to the profession. He has left a lasting impression, and we wish him well.