The Yale University Library has established a Librarian-in- Residence Program to increase professional minority representation on its staff and further the growth and development of minority librarians. Through the program, which began in September 1995, recent library school graduates build on previously acquired skills and learn the specifics of Yale's library system.
"This program is one component of the University's overall affirmative action plan," says Diane Turner, director of the University Library Human Resources Office. "It reflects Yale's strong commitment to affirmative action and reaffirms its value of diversity in its work force."
"There is a push nationwide to increase the pool of minority librarians available," says Kathleen Eisenbeis, director of the Social Science Library and Information Services. "Yale has some part in that. There's a need to do something in a programmatic way, and this is our program."
Librarians-in-residence serve a two-year postgraduate appointment in the campus library system. Whenever possible, specific assignments reflect the intern's interests and aspirations as well as the library's need to support program innovation, says Ms. Turner. Interns also receive travel support and participate in administrative assignments, library committees, specialized training and professional activities. An internship appointment will be made every other year.
"I am immensely pleased with the program and expect to see it continue, " says University Librarian Scott Bennett. To manage the increasing technological advances in the library field, he observes, "libraries need the richest possible pool of human talent. With few members of minority groups employed as professional librarians, we draw upon too narrow a range of talents."
One of the reasons for the dearth of minority librarians is that many of the top library school candidates "get pulled away into other areas such as law school or business school," says Ms. Eisenbeis. "It's not a very highly paid profession. Like teachers and nurses, librarians tend to be very altruistic."
For Yale, the competition with other institutions to find minority librarians "has been fierce," says Ms. Turner. "This program is a good first step for Yale to say we're interested and we'd love to have you here. Our hope is that we will be able to draw on program participants as recruiters. The program clearly has sent a message that Yale is interested in recruiting and focusing on minority applicants."
The newly established program builds on the skills professional librarians already have acquired, says Ms. Eisenbeis. "This is a program that takes someone already working and enhances their skills," she explains. "Our current librarian-in-residence, who works part-time at the Government Documents Center, is interested in learning general reference and specializing in various areas. She's creating career paths for herself and giving herself a lot of options."
Raquel V. Cogell, Yale's first librarian-in-residence, came to the University from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, a world-renowned, New York-based research center. Her duties there included selecting books for several of the Schomburg's literature collections and providing reference service for a variety of clientele including students, faculty and researchers. Ms. Cogell earned a Master of Library Science degree in 1994 from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of California at Los Angeles. She has received several honors for her academic achievement -- including a U.S. Department of Education Library Fellowship -- and is a member of the American Library Association ALA . She expects to serve as a panelist at the national conference of the ALA's Black Caucus next year. The New York Public Library recently invited her to teach a four-part Internet class, and she also has been active locally.
In addition to her impressive resume, Ms. Cogell was selected for the program because "she has a very, very self-confident presence, her communications skills are very good and she seems sincerely eager to learn more," says Ms. Eisenbeis. "The library field is a field that is constantly developing, so you have to be excited about learning new things."
"I saw the Librarian-in-Residence Program as an opportunity to launch my career into academic libraries," says Ms. Cogell. She was based at Sterling Memorial Library last year, and this year works primarily at the Social Science Library. Her duties at Yale have included Orbis, Nexis and Internet instruction; creating guides for such online data bases; and providing reference assistance.
"The students' informational needs reflect the diverse course offereings and related class assignments," Ms. Cogell says. "As a result of providing reference assistance in a variety or areas, I find that I learn something in the process."
Although she found it hard to leave a job she enjoyed, Ms. Cogell says she would recommend the Librarian-in-Residence Program to others. "It was difficult leaving the Schomburg Center," says Ms. Cogell. "but I could not let the opportunity to work in academia go by, especially during this very exciting and rapidly changing period of the profession. My experience thus far has been extremely rewarding and I think others would benefit greatly from the program, if given the opportunity. The library's extensive collections are not easily surpassed and the various libraries, special collections and myriad resources offer invaluable experience for a new librarian."
The University Library, a repository of materials for teaching and research at Yale, has more than 10.5 million volumes housed in the Sterling Memorial Library and 16 school and department libraries. It has a staff of nearly 600 full-time employees. The spectrum of library resources -- from rare books and manuscripts to a rapidly expanding network of electronic resources -- is considered one of Yale's distinctive strengths, says Ms. Turner. The library currently is engaged in efforts such as the renovation of the main building, the complete retrospective conversion of the library's catalog, and automation projects such as network access to scholarly information and preservation imaging.
"Our Librarian-in-Residence Program gives the permanent library staff a chance to work with some truly remarkable individuals who are here for two years," says Mr. Bennett. "Beyond that, the program is designed to enrich the human talents serving Yale students and faculty and to strengthen the wider profession of librarianship."