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<b>Lori Mestre</b>. <i>Librarians Serving Diverse Populations: Challenges & Opportunities</i>. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries, 2010. 211p. alk. paper, $54 (ISBN 9780838985120). LC2009-047658.
Author(s) -
Kelly Rhodes McBride
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
college and research libraries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.886
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 2150-6701
pISSN - 0010-0870
DOI - 10.5860/0720094
Subject(s) - association (psychology) , library science , psychology , computer science , psychotherapist
instruction, and reference services. This well-designed, concisely written, and accessible survey is an essential resource for librarians who work regularly-—or even rarely—with international students. For readers without the time to track down and read the works cited in the bibliography, the introductory essay provides cogent explanations of important issues, along with good guidance. And the bibliography presents ample resources to support their endeavors on behalf of international students who encounter our libraries for the first time.— How do librarians work with diverse cultures? What is the role of the library in providing diversity training? Does library school curricula address working in a multicultural environment? These are just a few of the questions addressed in Librarians Serving Diverse Populations. Author Lori Mestre, an academic librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana Cham-paign, explores the issues, challenges, and opportunities facing librarians and libraries that serve diverse populations. The book is divided into ten chapters, and, through the use of surveys, interviews, and other relevant sources, Mestre interweaves both quantitative and qualitative data to provide a framework for the discussion of the education, training, experiences, and strategies employed by librarians and libraries in their pursuit of diversity efforts. The opening chapter begins with the author making a case for why libraries should be involved in promoting diversity awareness and examines who multicultural librarians are. It is no secret there have been a number of initiatives to increase diversity among the ranks of librarians. Opportunities such as internships and scholarships have been used as recruitment tools to attract librarians of color into the profession. A positive outcome of these recruitment efforts has been that these individuals then bring their different cultures and perspectives to their jobs and further the overall goal of increasing diversity awareness both inside and outside the library. Mestre reports that many librarians of color are drawn to diversity-related jobs and can be the ideal prospects for positions that serve diverse populations. Statistics, however, indicate that librarians of color pursue other options in librarianship as well. Mestre indicates that, as the populations that libraries serve become more diverse, the services that libraries provide need to be reflective of this diversity, particularly in the areas of services, collections, and outreach. According to the research study, the pool of available librarians from diverse cultures is quite small, indicating that " …libraries cannot solely rely on finding someone from an ethnic minority to …

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