RLI 286  4 RESEARCH LIBRARY ISSUES: A REPORT FROM ARL, CNI, AND SPARC 2015 and honest approval. However, any potential advantages in specificity and flexibility of NLM-focused programs are far outweighed by the advantages of a collaborative, partnership approach to diversity recruitment. A partnership approach gives NLM a view into others’ work, programs, and goals makes NLM part of the profession’s wider issues and discussions and provides an opportunity to influence the collaboration with NLM’s mission, vision, values, and goals. NLM has therefore expanded existing partnerships with other organizations to include talent recruitment and retention. Collaborating with existing partners gives NLM access to talent beyond its own staff network, and provides a continuous flow of access to the talent pipeline. Working with existing partners also connects NLM to talent that is vetted by another organization, and to people who are making themselves known and available within the larger job marketplace. Partnerships also offer the potential for shared follow-up and evaluation: if the pipeline dries up or sees a sudden increase, the questions of why and what can be done about it can be assessed and lessons learned and addressed together. One partnership program with both a library school and an academic health sciences library that NLM actively supports is a collaboration between the University of Arizona Health Sciences Library (AHSL), the National Library of Medicine, and the Knowledge River Program of the School of Information Resources and Library Science (SIRLS) at the University of Arizona (UA) to provide internships in health sciences librarianship to Hispanic and/or Native American students accepted in the Knowledge River Program. The internship opportunity exposes Knowledge River students to career opportunities in health sciences librarianship by providing a working internship at AHSL. NLM and ARL’s Career Enhancement Program NLM reaches a diversity of potential candidates and partners in its services through its long-standing relationships with library associations. NLM is actively involved in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), with institutional membership in the association since 1948. The current member representative to ARL, Joyce Backus, associate director for library operations, is the chair of the ARL Diversity and Leadership Committee. NLM is also an active institutional member and partner with the Medical Library Association, the leading organization for health sciences librarians in the United States. NLM also partners with the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries (AAHSL) in a Leadership Fellows Program for mid-career health sciences librarians who aspire to positions at the more senior level, including those seeking positions as a director. This program, too, takes an inclusive approach in identifying program participants. ARL’s Career Enhancement Program (CEP) is one example of a successful partnership in diversity recruitment. The ARL CEP, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), offers master of library and information science (MLIS) or equivalent students from underrepresented racial and ethnic populations within the United States a career-enriching internship at an ARL member library, coupled with extensive support and career development from ARL. The program includes attendance at the ARL Annual Leadership Symposium, held in conjunction with the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting, a six-week internship at an ARL CEP partner library, and mentorship. The Annual Leadership
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