Nicole Cooke, GSLIS assistant professor, recently published "Diversifying the LIS faculty" in Library Journal's opinion section, Backtalk. In tandem with the need to increase diversity in LIS student populations, Cooke calls for recruitment efforts that will diversify LIS faculties.
LIS faculties need diversity: more so of gender, of ability, of thought, and of race and ethnicity. If we as a profession keep saying that we must recruit more minority students because this makes us better prepared to serve increasingly diverse patron populations, shouldn’t we do the same at the faculty ranks?
Our patrons are diverse and should have access to librarians who themselves represent diverse populations; similarly, to attract and retain excellent master’s candidates from diverse backgrounds, there should be faculty members from similar backgrounds who share their needs and experiences. The better, and more inclusive, the graduate education experience for diverse candidates, the better prepared they will be to serve diverse patrons in their libraries.