The 21st-Century Black Librarian in America

Issues and Challenges

Edited by Andrew P. Jackson, Julius Jefferson, Akilah S. Nosakhere

Publication date:

12 April 2012

Length of book:

300 pages

Publisher

Scarecrow Press

ISBN-13: 9780810882454

The 1970 and 1994 editions of The Black Librarian in America by E.J. Josey singled out racism as an important issue to be addressed within the library profession. Although much has changed since then, this latest collection of 48 essays by Black librarians and library supporters again identifies racism as one of many challenges of the new century.

Essays are written by library educators, library graduate students, retired librarians, public library trustees, veteran librarians, and new librarians fresh out of school with great ideas and wholesome energies. They cover such topics as poorly equipped school libraries and the need to preserve the school library, a call to action to all librarians to make the shift to new and innovative models of public education, the advancement in information technology and library operations, special libraries, recruitment and the Indiana State Library program, racism in the history of library and information science, and challenges that have plagued librarianship for decades.

This collection of poignant essays covers a multiplicity of concerns for the 21st-century Black librarian and embodies compassion and respect for the provision of information, an act that defines librarianship. The essays are personable, inspiring, and thought provoking for all library professionals, regardless of race, class, or gender.

Dedication
A Selected Bibliography: E.J. Josey, Andrew P. Jackson
A Tribute to Dr. E.J. Josey, Satia Orange and Effie Lee Morris
Epigraph
Preface, Andrew P. Jackson
Acknowledgments
Introduction, Akilah Shukura Nosakhere

PART I: FROM THE SCHOOL LIBRARY
Chapter 1. Information Literacy Instruction in K-12 Education: What Does the Research Say About Success in the 21st Century? Siliva Lloyd
Chapter 2. Inequality of Resources in School Libraries in the 21st Century, Joyce F. Ndiaye
Chapter 3. Challenges as a Black School Librarian in the 21st Century: Why I Choose to Stay, Angela Washington-Blair
Chapter 4. The “Qualified” Black Librarian, Barbara Montgomery
Chapter 5. The Charge and Challenge of the Black School Library Media Specialist, Ayodele Ojumu
Chapter 6. Swimming Against the Tide: Library Media Specialists in Urban Schools, Karen Lemmons and Andre Taylor
Chapter 7. Winning the Future with 21st Century School Libraries, Gloria J. Reaves
Chapter 8. Meeting the Needs of the African American Students in the School Media Program, Pauletta Brown Bracy

PART II: FROM THE PUBLIC LIBRARY
Chapter 1. What Does Black Public Librarianship Look Like in the Proverbial Information Age?, Linda Bannerman-Martin and Sandra Michele Echols
Chapter 2. Servant Librarianship and the Importance of African Americans Mentors, Rhea Brown-Lawson
Chapter 3. Becoming a Leader within the Library Profession, Rose Dawson Timmons
Chapter 4. Making the Grade: An African American Library Director in a Majority Community, Jos N. Holman
Chapter 5. Designing and Promoting Public Library Services for Teens of Color without losing one’s Sanity, Syntychia Kendrick-Samuel
Chapter 6. Adultism: Discrimination by another Name, Tamara Stewart
Chapter 7. Public Libraries in the 21st Century, Lucille Cole Thomas

PART III: FROM THE ACADEMIC LIBRARY
Chapter 1. National and International Challenges of Black Librarianship, Ruth M. Jackson, Ph.D.
Chapter 2. Academic Art Librarianship and the Black Librarian, Deirdre D. Spencer
Chapter 3. Managing HBCU Academic Libraries during Economic Recession: Challenges and Expectations for Black Library Deans and Directors, Felix Unaeze
Chapter 4. Managing the Academic Library: The Role of the Black Librarian Leader in Three Different Institutional Environments, Dr. Theresa S. Byrd
Chapter 5. Not Just a Drop in the Bucket: Black Instructional Librarians Teaching for Academic Success , Lisa A. Ellis

PART IV: FROM THE SPECIAL LIBRARY
Chapter 1. Medical Libraries, Information Technology and the African American Librarian , Ellie Bushhousen
Chapter 2. Achievements of Selected 21st Century African American Health Sciences Librarians, LaVentra E. Danquah
Chapter 3. Why Did I Become a Special Librarian?, Phyllis Hodges
Chapter 4. The Southern California Library: Opening the Doors to the Next L.A., Michele Welsing
Chapter 5. The Dark but Good side of Diversity in Corporate Libraries, Brendan Thompson

PART V: FROM THE STATE AND FEDERAL LIBRARIES
Chapter 1. We Need Some Color Up In Here: Educating and Recruiting Minority Librarians in Indiana, Michele Fenton and Deloice Holliday
Chapter 2. A Charge to Keep I Have, Steven Booth
Chapter 3. Massachusetts Black Librarians Network, Inc.: Commitments and Challenges to our 21st Century Presence, Em Claire Knowles

PART VI: FROM THE LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCHOOL
Chapter 1. Going the Distance: Supporting African America Library and Information Science Students, Angel K. Washington Durr
Chapter 2. African American Faculty in LIS: Unresolved issues in a new era, Maurice B. Wheeler, Ph.D.

PART VII: FROM LIBRARY TECHNOLOGY
Chapter 1. Technology Skills for the 21st Century, Fantasia Thorne
Chapter 2. Archival and Digital Music Challenges with Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Libraries, Gladys Smiley-Bell and Harvey J. Stokes, Ph.D.
Chapter 3. Web 2.0 in Libraries, Jennifer W. Baxmeyer
Chapter 4. From MARC to MARS: The Impact of Technology on Librarianship, Allene Farmer Hayes
Chapter 5. HBCU Library Alliance: Preserving Our Culture, Ira Revels

PART VIII: ISSUES AND PROFILES
Chapter 1. The Black Body at the Reference Desk: Critical Race Theory and Black Librarianship, Tracie D. Hall
Chapter 2. Diversity in Librarianship: Is There a Color Line?, Cheryl L. Branche
Chapter 3. Beyond the Spectrum: Examining Library Recruitment of Blacks in the New Millennium, RaShauna Brannon and Jahala Simuel
Chapter 4. Exploring the Generational Transfer of Tacit and Explicit Librarianship Knowledge, Johnnie O. Dent and Valeda Dent Goodman
Chapter 5. Your World Outside the Library, Carol Nurse
Chapter 6. The 21st Century Black Librarian: Renewing Our Commitment to Liberation and Cultural Activism, Taneya D. Gethers
Chapter 7. Dismiss the Stereotypes! Combating Racism and Continuing our Progress, Margaret J. Gibson
Chapter 8. Walking in the Footsteps of Giants: My Journey in Public Libraries, Emily Guss
Chapter 9. In Retrospect and Forward: Issues Facing Black Librarians, Binnie Tate Wilkin
Chapter 10. E.J. Josey: The Internationalist, Mary and Herb Biblo
Chapter 11. A Soldier in E. J. Josey’s Army, Linda Saylor-Marchant
Chapter 12. Pay it Forward for Effie Lee Morris: A Tribute, Satia Orange

Epilogue, Julius C. Jefferson, Jr.
Contributors
Index

How much have things changed since the publication of E. J. Josey’s seminal work, The Black Librarian in America (Scarecrow Press, 1970) and The Black Librarian Revisited (2d ed.; Scarecrow Press, 1994)? Judging by some of the anecdotes and data found throughout the 48 essays in this collection, racism remains a challenge to the profession. The mostly brief (four to five pages) essays cover the professional gamut from school librarianship to special libraries work, and the authors range from library school students to retired individuals, with three excellent editors helming the project. Naturally with such breadth and variety the quality will vary, but the immediacy of the personal stories are most striking and thought provoking, even though their individuality raises questions of just how prevalent racism is. The matter of diversity and relatively low number of black professional librarians runs through many of the essays, but all too often some basic questions are not addressed. Are blacks not entering the profession because of white attitudes, or is it a matter of higher pay and more opportunity in other fields? Is librarianship itself as attractive a profession as it was 40 years ago, or is it seen as a going the way of buggywhip salesmanship to new generations? Overall, this is a fine work that could open up discussion in the field, much in the way that Josey’s work did in the twentieth century. This work is recommended for all library science collections.