Sponsored by Society Circle
Speakers:Charlene Maxey Harris, Associate Professor, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Mark Pompelia, Visual Resources Librarian, Fleet Library, Rhode Island School of Design
Eumie Imm-Stroukoff, Director, Research Center, Georgia O'Keeffe Museum
Jina Park, Archive Assistant at Fairchild Archive & Library, Condé Nast
Moderators:Elvia Arroyo-Ramirez, Project Archivist, Center for the Study of Political Graphics
Kai Alexis Smith, Adjunct Reference Librarian at the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center
Enrollment in arts programs are changing and slowly so are the faces of the art library profession. New art library professionals entering the field are more diverse than ever. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) from 2007-2018, enrollment of Hispanic/Latinos in institutions of higher learning will increase by 38% and projections include 32% for American Indian/ Alaska natives, 29% for Asian/ Pacific Islanders and 26% for African Americans or Blacks. In the National Endowment for the Arts 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, about 26% of non-Hispanic whites, 15% of Hispanics, 12 % of African Americans, and 23% of adults in other racial/ethnic categories (largely Asian Americans and Native Americans) visited an art museum or gallery in that year.
With this increase will the staff become more blended to serve the more diverse population in art libraries? What about LGBT students and professional staff? Are they represented in the art library profession? In 2012, the ALA Demographic survey indicated that approximately 11.3% of all LIS graduates claim minority status, while a 2009-2010 study showed that the total minority representation of “credentialed” librarians was 12.1%. A 2009 ARL report indicates that minorities represent 14.1% of professionals working in research libraries. What percentage pursued the art librarian track? What about the early minority art librarian pioneers? What was it like for them to break into the field? This session topic will address the history of diversity in the art library profession as well as new diversity initiatives.
