High school students' transition to college-level research is often discussed among school library and media specialists and academic librarians. The authors conducted a survey to gather data about the academic library's role in the adjustment to college, with the intention to identify compelling or recurring themes and share the results in…

This demographic study contributes to scholarship on the recruitment of Blacks into the US LIS workforce by situating Black librarianship within broader population trends. The research combines historical LIS reports, Africana studies scholarship, and federal data to describe how long-term transitions in the overall US Black population influence…

The proportion of ethnic minorities in the LIS school student population has remained significantly lower than in the U.S. population: in 2002, ethnic minorities constituted only 11.3 percent of the LIS student population, compared to 31.3 percent of the U.S. population. Despite efforts by LIS schools and associations in recruiting and retaining…

In 2003 at the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) 11th National Conference in Kansas City, the AASL Task Force on Recruitment for the Profession noted that 68 percent of school librarians will retire by the year 2015. They also reported extremely severe shortages of school librarians in ten states and severe shortages in 30 states…

Argues that for librarianship to become the information profession in a changing society, the continuing education environment for librarians must be strengthened. Proposes that, rather than recruiting new blood, professional education must focus on developing skilled continuing education practitioners and develop strategies to ensure the…

Although mentoring dates back to Greek mythology, the concept continues to thrive in today's society. Mentoring is a strategy that successful people have known about for centuries. The REFORMA/UCLA Mentor Program has made use of this strategy since its inception in November 1985 at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the…

Discusses the problems facing library schools in a time of decreasing enrollments with respect to: the recruitment of qualified, talented, and motivated students; the selection of qualified students; the development of innovative and relevant contemporary library curricula; and the placement of library school graduates. A 40-item reference list is…

One of the most promising of all diversity initiatives in library and information studies (LIS) is Knowledge River (KR) at the School of Information Resources and Library Science (SIRLS) at the University of Arizona, Tucson. Created and directed by Patricia A. Tarin, the program has already recruited some 42 students into the profession, 20 of…

This handbook for the Mentor Program of the California Librarians Black Caucus (CLBC) and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) begins by stating that the purpose of the program is to increase the number of African American librarians and other information professionals in…

Describes Augustana College's program of structured library orientation for high school students and its role in recruitment of prospective students. Library staff are seen as a credible and capable force in the college-wide effort to attract good students. (KS)

Based on vision of reduced mechanical and production concerns for academic librarians within next decade, this article describes required skills, knowledge, attitudes, and abilities in areas of intellect and human relations; suggests revised educational requirements for academic librarians. Eighteen recommendations and 43 references appended.…

Discusses the problem of recruitment of Spanish-speaking Americans to the library profession from an historical perspective; offers reasons for recruiting failures; and notes the roles of the individual librarian, the library school, federal government, and library associations in solving problems. Twenty-one references are cited. (EJS)

Describes the American Library Association's Spectrum Initiative that provides scholarships to library-school students of color in an effort to increase the number of librarians of color in the profession. Highlights include diversity, mentoring, and personal experiences of students and mentors. (LRW)

Discusses 7 interrelated issues critical to education for librarianship and argues that each issue is amenable to resolution. Areas discussed include professional versus academic expectations, library science and information science, undergraduate programs, minority recruitment, international librarianship, size and organization of library…

The subject of this analytical bibliography is the future of education for librarianship. Its purpose was to cover English-language publications since 1980 and selected "classic" authors of the past, and to synthesize the trends and concepts that emerge. The first section presents a brief synthesis of each of the major issues/trends that emerged…