Little to No Progress in Ethnic Minority Representation in ALA, and American Libraries Since 1985

Librarians are NOT representative of the current US Demographics

According to my calculations, the ALA had 88.5% White Librarians in 1985, and 87.97% in 2009-2010.

According to my calculations, the ALA had 1.8% Asian/Pacific Islander Librarians in 1985, and 2.7% in 2009-2010.

According to my calculations, the ALA had 1.8% Latino Librarians in 1985, and 3.08% in 2009-2010.

According to my calculations, the ALA had 6.1% African American Librarians in 1985, and 5.19% in 2009-2010.

In the US, the above image is linked to the image below.

Figures derived from Equity at Issue document from ALA 1985 and ALA office of diversity 2009-2010.

How to Survive Police Confrontation and Other Services for Library Patrons

Police Sniper in Ferguson.

Libraries should be developing programs to help people deal with the police.

There has been a huge increase in police shooting, beatings and other transgressions against citizens.

We, as librarians, should recognize the community's need for information on how to stay safe, avoid police confrontation, and how to act when confronted by police.

We can form partnerships with legal organizations to provide patrons with basic survival instructions for the world of today.

Lets do this!


#LibrariesAgainstPoliceBrutality

Information Literacy and Colonialism

In the US, every piece of information and every bit of knowledge we have has been mediated through a White-Supremacist lens--this is especially the case the more educated an individual is in the US.

It usually doesn’t matter what the ethnicity of the creator of this knowledge is, nor what their first language is because they have been educated in a system that is fundamentally White-supremacist. It takes much work and effort to even attempt to break out of this colonial mind set. #InformationLiteracy #education #EthnicStudies #Libraries #Information #knowledge #colonialism #21stCenturyEmpire