Gabriel and Terrones discuss diversity in LIS education at JCLC

Jamillah Gabriel
Jamillah R. Gabriel
Lettycia Terrones
Lettycia Terrones

Doctoral students Jamillah Gabriel and Lettycia Terrones will discuss diversity in LIS education at the Joint Conference of Librarians of Color (JCLC), which will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico, from September 26-30. The conference brings together librarians, staff, and supporters as well as community participants to explore issues of diversity in libraries.

During the panel, "Conceptualizing Diversity and Inclusion in Information Sciences as Doctoral Students of Color," Gabriel and Terrones will examine the diversity and inclusion gaps found in LIS higher education and present arguments for the recruitment of people of color (POC) librarians to PhD programs. In addition, they will discuss the importance of mentoring and funding in LIS programs to attract and retain students of color.

"Attention towards integrated mentoring models offers ways to not only increase immediate student retention, but further creates capacity for innovation in LIS curriculum responsive to creating a diverse student body," Gabriel explained.

"We advocate for stakeholders across library constituencies to pursue comprehensive funding for LIS doctoral students to secure the future recruitment and retention of marginalized students," said Terrones.

Gabriel's research interests focus on the information behaviors of African Americans and the effectiveness of cultural heritage institutions (libraries, archives, museums) at meeting the needs of African American communities. She is also interested in information literacy, community informatics, social justice, community engagement, and diversity and inclusion. Gabriel earned her MLIS from San Jose State University and also holds an MA in museum studies from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis.

Terrones uses interdisciplinary methods, particularly Chicana Feminist Theory and Performance Studies, to interrogate strategies for minoritarian resistance deployed in the picturebook art form. In her work, she examines how aesthetic/political strategies contribute to decolonial library services for children and families. By doing so, she aims to foster conversations between critical ethnic studies approaches in library science curriculum and children's library services. She holds an MLIS from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Spectrum Scholar Spotlight: Zhaneille Green

Thirteen iSchool master's students were named 2022-2023 Spectrum Scholars by the American Library Association (ALA) Office for Diversity, Literacy, and Outreach Services. This "Spectrum Scholar Spotlight" series highlights the School's scholars. Zhaneille Green holds a BA in geography and history from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Zhaneille Green

Digital age creates challenges for public libraries in providing patron privacy

Library professionals have long held sacred the right of patrons to privacy while using library facilities, and the privilege is explicitly addressed in the American Library Association's Bill of Rights. The advent of the digital age, however, has complicated libraries' efforts to secure and protect privacy, Associate Professor Masooda Bashir has learned.

Masooda Bashir

Student award recipients announced

Each year, the School of Information Sciences recognizes a group of outstanding students for their achievement in academics as well as a number of attributes that contribute to professional success. Congratulations to this year's honorees!

Ly Dinh and Jessica Cheng

New computational tools to protect Homeland Security data

Associate Professor Jingrui He is developing computational tools to protect against leaks and/or unauthorized use of sensitive data held and distributed among Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agencies and other parties. Her project, "Privacy-Preserving Analytics for Non-IID Data," has been awarded a three-year, $651,927 grant from the DHS Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency (CAOE).

Jingrui He

Ayorinde and Lopez receive CARLI Building Diversity Graduate Assistantships

The Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI) is pleased to announce that Elizabeth Ayorinde and Victor Lopez are the recipients of the Building Diversity Graduate Assistantships for the 2023-2024 academic year. The assistantships will provide experience, mentoring, and networking to participants with the goal of increasing the number of staff members from underrepresented groups at Illinois' two and four-year public and private college and university libraries.