Article Note: On the experience of uniqueness and difference for librarians of color

The article argues that due to lack of diversity in the profession, the experiences of librarians of color are often ignored by the white majority. The white majority may be unaware of the challenges their colleagues of color face. Personally, I think at times the majority is fully aware, but they just ignore it, minimize, or make it worse, but the article is much more charitable overall (that is another story for another time). 

Once again, I want to jot down some takeaways from the article I want to remember with some comments of my own. 

• "The lack of diversity in librarianship is a well-known and well-documented problem" (285). And yet, here we are again with another article discussing that lack of diversity in the profession that is so well-known and well-documented. The article goes to point out further that progress has been slow and that we need more than statistics and calls for action. Again, nothing new here. 
• What the article aims to do: ". . .articulate with rich detail how a group of librarians of color experience uniqueness and difference in a predominantly white profession" (286). Does it succeed? I would say not quite. Once you get past the literature review and the method, there is just not that much to consider in the discussion. Actual descriptions of what the librarians of color experience are pretty brief. 
• On participants for the study: "The eight participants included four women and four men who self-identified as African American, Asian, and LatinX, with some multiple identities also offered. Participants were employed in a number of environments including academic research libraries, community college libraries, public libraries, and school libraries. A challenge to the study was some participants' concern that their anonymity would not be protected if demographic detail was provided, due to the small number of librarians of color in the profession" (287-288). So basically they had a sample so small that participants could be easily identifiable, so the authors need to keep things very vague. This is a common concern for librarians of color, including me. It is a big reason I never participate in any campus survey that asks for my demographic information. Once they know my gender, ethnicity, and department, there is NO anonymity for me no matter what they claim. 
• Big themes to emerge from this limited study is the experience of uniqueness and difference among librarians of color. Another theme they found is that intersectionality can play a role as well, where there are layers of diversity, for example being a librarian of color and male (in a female dominated profession). 
• Some librarians of color would argue, and I would probably agree, that times our presence contributes to making things inclusive. We do the work just by being there, showing up, doing our work. 
• Participants felt that being a librarian of color allowed them to better related to library patrons of color. Part of it due to shared experience. I can related to that. 
• Participants also felt that there are burdens to being a librarian of color such as the expectation of serving in every diversity committee, service job, initiative, etc. a campus creates. I can relate to that too, though I have done my best personally to distance myself from some of that. For good or ill, there are always new faculty on my campus willing to do that to get their service requirements for their tenure line. Note that while I have "faculty" status, I am not "real" faculty nor am I on a tenure track. While I do get roped into committee work now and then, it is not a strict requirement, so when it comes to DEI, I tend to avoid it because, well, I do not wish nor need to be the token guy (but that is another story). Bottom line here, as the article points out, is that the work of librarians of color is often very different than the work of the white colleagues in terms of having to do things like the diversity committee, collection development in some area based on race and/or ethnicity (oh, you are LatinX, and you speak Spanish? you are the new Spanish liaison, for example).
  
• "The microaggressions and discrimination experienced by participants reinforce the need for diversity policies, as well as a creation of a culture of support and inclusion" (294). Gee, you think? One thing the article does not consider, and it is probably something for another article, is what happens when one member of a color group does the microaggressions and discrimination towards another member of another color group, say a black person discriminating against an Asian. And yes, that can happen (but so far not something I have seen in the literature. I suppose folks of color have enough problems as is from outside to check on the problems in their houses, but again, that is another story). 
• From the conclusion: "Some findings of this study may sound all too familiar to librarians of color" (295). Again, you think? 
• Also from the conclusion: "There is frustration with seeing endless papers about diversity issues and racism in information professions that raise problems but offer little in way of solutions" (295). Kind of like this paper. To be honest, as I mentioned, actual accounts from the librarians of color are very brief and minimal. It does not feel like enough. As for the findings, a lot of this is not really new. 

 Citation for the article: 

Amy VanScoy and Kawanna Bright, "Articulating the Experience of Uniqueness and Difference for Librarians of Color." The Library Quarterly 89.4 (2019): 285-297.