Before entering library school (yes, it's a thing!), I didn't know that librarianship was such a white profession. Coming from a minority-majority city, it just didn't occur to me that ~80% of librarians are white. Despite 10+ years of attempting to diversify the field, the number of BIPOC librarians has not changed significantly, if at all. You can read some of Twanna Hodge's reflections in the article, On Being Black in Librarianship.
Below, you'll find information about a few organizations/publications that are doing the work to promote BIPOC voices and experiences in libraries.
On Sept. 3, 2021, several BIPOC librarians published a Statement Against White Appropriation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color's Labor.
The authors criticize white librarians for their historical and current performative allyship that ultimately only benefits them. They call for "a collective interrogation of [their] self-professed commitment to and 'expertise' in equity, diversity, and inclusion..." while acknowledging the trauma they have caused their BIPOC colleagues.
"Stop trying to profit off the labor that BIPOC workers have put into racial justice work or benefit from our existence or experiences in this field."
Alexandria Brown, James Cheng, Isabel Espinal, Brittany Paloma Fielder, Joyce Garcia,
Sofia Leung, Nisha Mody, Alanna Aiko Moore, Teresa Y. Neely, & Peace Ossom-Williamson
Citation:
Alexandria Brown, James Cheng, Isabel Espinal, Brittany Paloma Fielder, Joyce Garcia, Sofia Leung, Nisha Mody, Alanna Aiko Moore, Teresa Y. Neely, & Peace Ossom-Williamson. (2021 Sept 3). Statement Against White Appropriation of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color's Labor. WOC+lib. https://www.wocandlib.org/features/2021/9/3/statement-against-white-appropriation-of-black-indigenous-and-people-of-colors-labor
We Here is a community of and for BIPOC librarians. They do so much to ensure that new Black and Brown librarians feel supported, nurtured, and validated. Curated by We Here librarians, We Reads is a collection of works/stories written by BIPOC authors, scholars, and poets.
Their publication, up/root, centers the experiences of BIPOC librarians and allows them to share their knowledge with our community.
In the Library with the Lead Pipe is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal. Prominent BIPOC library scholars hold several places on their Editorial Board, and they do the work to ensure that the peer-review process is fair and unbiased towards BIPOC librarians.