Are you a librarian of color? Do you work in an academic library in the United States? If so, please add your voice by filling out a questionnaire for a study on the self-perceptions of professional and racial identity of academic librarians of color.
Despite an abundance of existing literature on diversity in libraries, as well as recruitment and retention initiatives of underrepresented populations in libraries, there has been little research on how academic librarians of color perceive themselves as professionals and as people of color. Our research will serve as the basis for a book chapter tentatively titled “Librarians of Color: Perceptions of Professional and Racial Identity in Academic Libraries” in the forthcoming ACRL publication Beyond the Bun: Librarian Valuing through Perception and Presentation (working title).
For this research, we want to define the term “person of color” beyond the literal color of one's skin. We are defining the term as individuals who reside in the United States who belong to minoritized racial and ethnic groups, including but not limited to: African American or African, Arab, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino, Native American and Alaskan Native, and Multiracial.
We are seeking participants who are librarians working in an academic library setting in the United States, over the age of 18 years, who identify as persons of color.
Questionnaires will be collected online through the survey tool Qualtrics. Confidentiality cannot be guaranteed in the online research environment. To protect the confidentiality of survey respondents the collection of IP addresses will be disabled in the survey results. Participation is voluntary and participants are free to withdraw at any time, or may choose to only answer specific questions. The questionnaire consists of several open-ended questions and will take about 20-30 minutes to complete.
Click here to access the questionnaire: https://uic.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_1NaXWBAZWRRtEzP
Thank you for your participation in this study.
Isabel Gonzalez-Smith
Academic Resident Librarian
University of Illinois, Chicago
312-413-3273 | igonza9@uic.edu
Azusa Tanaka
Japanese Studies Librarian
University of Washington
206-543-4490 | azusat@uw.edu
Juleah Swanson
Acquisitions Librarian
Ohio State University
614-247-7461 | swanson.234@osu.edu