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Immigrants are essential library constituents. This article presents the outcomes of a pilot, self-paced mini-course to introduce US immigrants to the library and information science (LIS) field. Data from student assessment and focus groups suggest that, with curricular and design improvements, the mini-course can help recruit skilled or degreed immigrants to the LIS profession. The Careers in Libraries for Immigrants project can serve as a model for justice-oriented partnerships among community members, educators, and professionals.

According to LIS research, the U.S. library and information science field reflects more than 135 years of white racialized, monocultural pedagogy. Critical race theory helps us understand why Blacks remain on the margins of the LIS profession. Armed with critical racial knowledge, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association embarked on a three-year project to assert Black culture in a profession that has historically overpowered other ways of knowing. This article chronicles how BCALA leaders gleaned from Black-centered pedagogical traditions, data on Black MLIS students' needs, and the critical race theory tenet of counterstorytelling to scaffold a national, online Black MLIS student organization that exists autonomously from mainstream U.S. LIS programs.

Purpose: After the closing of four of the five historically Black college and university (HBCU)-based library and information science (LIS) graduate programs (leaving only that of North Carolina Central University), there is a need to revitalize HBCU-LIS degree program pathways to increase racial diversity in LIS education. Design/methodology/approach: This mixed-methods study entails survey and interview research with HBCU librarians. The researchers explored participants' professional experiences and perspectives on creating partnerships between HBCU institutions and LIS graduate programs. Findings: Participants demonstrated substantial experience, expressed high levels of job satisfaction, viewed pipeline programs favorably and believed that LIS can be strengthened through the inclusion of HBCU educational practices and students. Practical implications: This study provides recommendations and a model for forging culturally competent and reciprocal HBCU-LIS degree program partnerships. Social implications: Community-led knowledge of HBCUs can disrupt rescue and deficiency narratives of these institutions. Such prejudices are detrimental to HBCU-LIS degree program partnerships. Originality/value: Past HBCU-LIS degree program pipeline partnerships did not culminate in research or published best practices. This paper presents literature-derived and community-sourced guidelines along with a model for future initiatives.

The purpose of this study is to probe biased library and information science (LIS) presumptions of digital divides among U.S. immigrants. The stance of the foreign-born as “digital immigrants” departs from migration and population research which hold that gaps in immigrant Internet and technology access are rapidly closing, even when accounting for immigrant type. The research is based on analysis of the 2016 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey data. Black immigrant households’ ICT device and Internet access were determined and then compared to those of the general population. Findings suggest that Black immigrant households primarily access the Internet through smartphone and laptop devices along with mobile and at-home hi-speed Internet plans. When compared to the general population, Black immigrant households demonstrate significantly greater smartphone access, and they maintain comparable levels of hi-speed Internet and computer/laptop device access. This study adds to a growing body of research on the narrowing digital divide gap among U.S. immigrants. Immigrants rely on the Internet to transition and integrate into U.S. society.

Immigrants are essential library constituents. This article presents the outcomes of a pilot, self-paced mini-course to introduce US immigrants to the library and information science (LIS) field. Data from student assessment and focus groups suggest that, with curricular and design improvements, the mini-course can help recruit skilled or degreed immigrants to the LIS profession. The Careers in Libraries for Immigrants project can serve as a model for justice-oriented partnerships among community members, educators, and professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]