Aboriginal and Visible Minority Librarians: Oral Histories from Canada

Citation

Spencer Lilley (2015), "Aboriginal and Visible Minority Librarians: Oral Histories from Canada", Library Review, Vol. 64 No. 4/5, pp. 393-394. https://doi.org/10.1108/LR-02-2015-0016

Canada’s demographic profile is becoming increasingly diverse, with approximately 14 per cent of the 35 million strong population being people of colour. This level of diversity is not representative in the country’s libraries, with only 7 per cent of the professional workforce identifying themselves as a member of a minority ethnic population. It should be noted that Canada is not alone in this regard, with similar trends apparent in other Western countries such as Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

The book is an initiative of the Visible Minority Librarians of Canada Network (ViMLoC), which was established in 2011 as a forum for minority librarians across Canada. The purpose of the book is to enable the author of each chapter to tell the story of their involvement, experiences and challenges in working as a minority in the library profession. Therefore, the chapters are semi autobiographical, with authors providing an overview of their careers, as well as advice to visible minorities starting out or considering a career in the library profession. It complements other books linking ethnicity with the library and information professions, such as Szekely (1999) and Neely and Abif (1996), and the Library Trends issue from 2000 on ethnic diversity in library and information science.

The librarians are drawn from a broad range of minority groups including Aboriginal, Cree, Inuit, Metis, Chinese, Filipino, Jamaican and Indian. Although they have different ethnicities, their stories have many similarities. This is represented through their accounts of feeling isolated culturally and professionally; being subjected to microaggressions by colleagues and clients; acting as counsellors to minority clients (particularly youths or students); struggling for promotion and/or being viewed or treated differently by colleagues who feel that cultural issues are of no relevance in the workplace or the profession. A recurring issue is the pressure that the authors feel they face to be the oracle about their culture and all the nuances contained within it. Many highlighted the fact that unlike their non-minority peers, they are expected to be available to educate their colleagues about their culture and customs, while this is not always reflected in their workload or compensated for in their salaries. Although the issues discussed in the book are weighty and serious in nature, the stories themselves remain quite positive, and the issues are presented as examples of the challenges faced on a daily basis. Understanding the impact of these issues on their minority colleagues or staff members will assist employers and their staff to create environments that are more inclusive of cultural difference. Although the stories are only focused on Canadian librarians, they will resonate with minority librarians in other countries.