38 Survey Results: Survey Questions and Responses
Barriers experienced by most libraries—scant candidates.
Barriers include few diverse students graduating from LIS programs, being located in a relatively
unexciting Midwestern non-diverse area.
Boston’s reputation as a city that is not welcoming to diverse communities is our biggest challenge.
Campus and community are not seen as diverse or welcoming of individuals who are
traditional culture.
Failure to reach applicants from traditionally marginalized communities some search committees
have addressed this by targeting specific listservs and LIS diversity programs. Many search committees
within the University Libraries struggle with the pre-conception that applicants from traditionally
marginalized communities will not want to come to a Predominantly White Institution in Rural
Appalachia we have had success in recruiting applicants to our Diversity Resident program. We have
begun to see more diversity in our applicant pools, but recruitment and retention remain challenging.
Geographic location, lack of diversity in library, campus and local community. No successes in
overcoming barriers, yet.
Identifying triggers in the employment cycle that affect the recruitment of women, minorities, and
persons with disabilities across the agency has been the best step in overcoming barriers in recruiting
diverse applicants.
Implicit bias training for hiring managers.
Incorporating language in job postings that aligns with university policies has been an obstacle.
Partnering with our Office of Diversity and conveying our diversity goals to upper administrators has
allowed us to be successful.
Issues that are mentioned are the pipeline, the lack of diversity in the community, etc. We have also had
trouble retaining folks and salary may be an issue.
It continues to be difficult to identify qualified candidates from a wide range of all of our positions
however, all library search committees are required to have a diversity advocate who will serve as
a voice, visible presence, and resource on the committee, including understanding campus policies
and procedures, working with HR and library faculty on recruitment, and helping assure that search
processes are fair. All search committee diversity advocates receive training from the campus.
It seems that we don’t get very many candidates from diverse backgrounds. It seems to me that it
comes down to how many diverse graduates there are there just don’t seem to be very many in the
candidate pools.
Knowing where to post for a more diverse pool.
Lack of diversity in applicant pools
Lack of diversity in LIS program graduates a geographic location that it is hard to attract applicants to.
Lack of diversity within the organization
Lack of in-depth education of the search and screens, limited time and resources to post in all of the
available sources, and being a northern state with cold and snowy winters. We hope the efforts of the
Equity and Diversity Committee and subcommittees will assist in overcoming the first two.
Limited by the lack of diversity in the librarian candidate pools.
Location in the South is always a barrier for us.
Location is perceived as a barrier. We are located in a rural area 3–4 hours from major
metropolitan areas.
Barriers experienced by most libraries—scant candidates.
Barriers include few diverse students graduating from LIS programs, being located in a relatively
unexciting Midwestern non-diverse area.
Boston’s reputation as a city that is not welcoming to diverse communities is our biggest challenge.
Campus and community are not seen as diverse or welcoming of individuals who are
traditional culture.
Failure to reach applicants from traditionally marginalized communities some search committees
have addressed this by targeting specific listservs and LIS diversity programs. Many search committees
within the University Libraries struggle with the pre-conception that applicants from traditionally
marginalized communities will not want to come to a Predominantly White Institution in Rural
Appalachia we have had success in recruiting applicants to our Diversity Resident program. We have
begun to see more diversity in our applicant pools, but recruitment and retention remain challenging.
Geographic location, lack of diversity in library, campus and local community. No successes in
overcoming barriers, yet.
Identifying triggers in the employment cycle that affect the recruitment of women, minorities, and
persons with disabilities across the agency has been the best step in overcoming barriers in recruiting
diverse applicants.
Implicit bias training for hiring managers.
Incorporating language in job postings that aligns with university policies has been an obstacle.
Partnering with our Office of Diversity and conveying our diversity goals to upper administrators has
allowed us to be successful.
Issues that are mentioned are the pipeline, the lack of diversity in the community, etc. We have also had
trouble retaining folks and salary may be an issue.
It continues to be difficult to identify qualified candidates from a wide range of all of our positions
however, all library search committees are required to have a diversity advocate who will serve as
a voice, visible presence, and resource on the committee, including understanding campus policies
and procedures, working with HR and library faculty on recruitment, and helping assure that search
processes are fair. All search committee diversity advocates receive training from the campus.
It seems that we don’t get very many candidates from diverse backgrounds. It seems to me that it
comes down to how many diverse graduates there are there just don’t seem to be very many in the
candidate pools.
Knowing where to post for a more diverse pool.
Lack of diversity in applicant pools
Lack of diversity in LIS program graduates a geographic location that it is hard to attract applicants to.
Lack of diversity within the organization
Lack of in-depth education of the search and screens, limited time and resources to post in all of the
available sources, and being a northern state with cold and snowy winters. We hope the efforts of the
Equity and Diversity Committee and subcommittees will assist in overcoming the first two.
Limited by the lack of diversity in the librarian candidate pools.
Location in the South is always a barrier for us.
Location is perceived as a barrier. We are located in a rural area 3–4 hours from major
metropolitan areas.
