ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


648 / C&RL News

Racial and ethnic diversity: Inform ation exchange

By Susana Hinojosa

Chair, A C R L  Racial and Ethnic 
Diversity Committee

•  T h e  A C R L  Racial & E th n ic  D iversity 
C om m ittee’s Coalition of Academic Librarians from 
U nderrepresented Groups m et for its first formal 
m eeting at the ALA Conference in Atlanta on June 
28, 1991. The m eeting was very well attended by 
representatives from over 20 different groups plus 
a n u m b er o f interested participants. Many ideas 
and suggestions regarding the future role o f this 
coalition w ere enthusiastically discussed. T he con­
clusion reached at the m eeting was that for the 
im m ediate future the coalition could b est serve as 
an information clearinghouse/exchange on events, 
programs, studies, etc., within ALA th at are of 
interest to the targeted groups. It was suggested that 
this exchange of information could result in b e tte r 
communication, possible cosponsorship of programs 
and events, b e tte r coordination of similar pro­
grams, and joint work on projects. O ne specific 
recom m endation that received strong support con­
c erned the establishm ent o f an electronic bulletin 
board to  be devoted to multicultural issues in librar­
ies. The recom m endation is now being studied. The 
coalition u n d e r th e  guidance o f Gladys Chaw will 
work on the above projects. Please forward com ­
m ents and information to: Gladys Chaw, Library, 
College of San Mateo, 1700 W. H illsdale Blvd., San 
M ateo, CA 94402.

•  Penfield Library, State University o f New 
York College at Oswego, forwards an interesting 
packet o f information describing its Library R efer­
ence Assistants (LRA) Program. C reated in r e ­
sponse to concerns that library staff w ere not reach­
ing the minority students on campus, the LRA 
Program participants are minority and nontraditional 
students. Trained and scheduled at the Library’s 
Inform ation D esk during the busiest hours, the 
LRAs help students use the library. T he packet 
includes: a description o f the program  and partici­
pants; training/library instruction sessions; a se­
lected bibliography; a publicity leaflet; and LRA 
s ta te m e n t o f responsibilities. C ontact: N ancy 
O s b o rn e , S pe c ia liz ed  In stru c tio n a l Services, 
Penfield Library, State University of New York, 
College at Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126.

•  "Difficult Dialogues: Achieving the Promise 
in Diversity” was the them e for the National C on­

ference on H igher Education sponsored by the 
American Association for Higher E ducation, in 
W ashington, D.C., in mid-M arch 1991. Highlights 
included: keynote speaker Dr. JohnettaC ole, presi­
dent, Spelman College; Toni Morrison, Tomas 
Rivera L ecture entitled “Education and Anger”; 
and Elie Wiesel, Nobel laureate, on “E ducation 
Against H atred.” T here w ere approximately 1800 
participants with about 25 library professionals 
attending. E m  Claire Knowles, assistant dean, 
G raduate School o f Library and Inform ation Sci­
ence, Simmons College, a ttended this conference 
and reports that, “T here is m uch research that 
relates to racial and ethnic diversity from which 
academic libraries can b enefit....” All o f the plenary 
sessions and many of the o ther conference sessions 
w ere audiotaped and can be purchased from AAH E 
H eadquarters, O ne D u p o n t Circle, Suite 600, 
W ashington, DC 20036-1110. The 1992 National 
C onference on H igher Education is scheduled to 
be held April 5-8, 1992, in Chicago.

•  The California L ibraiy Association, Califor- 
niaSociety o f Librarians (CLACSL) Library School 
Recruitm ent C om m ittee is currently coordinating 
many of its recruitm ent activities with the N orthern 
California Library Schools R ecruitm ent Com m it­
tee. Plans currently are underway to ensure that 
librarianship is rep resen ted  at the G raduate School 
Days scheduled at University of California and 
California State Universities campuses during Oc­
tober and Novem ber 1991. Librarians will be present 
at many o f these events to  re present th e  California 
library schools. A special focus of this recruitm ent 
is to  reach and recruit minority students interested 
in graduate schools into librarianship and informa­
tion science. To date, librarians will be present at 
approximately eight campuses throughout Califor­
nia. R ecruitm ent materials include: brochures and 
catalogs from  the th ree  California library schools; 
materials developed by the schools describing typi­
cal coursework, etc.; and financial aid informa­
tion from ALA and th e  California State Library. 
Contact Susana Hinojosa, Moffìtt U ndergraduate 
Library, University o f California-Berkeley, B erke­
ley, CA 94720 for m ore information and lists of 
materials. ■  ■