Recruiting for diversity: Strategies for twenty-first century research librarianship

Purpose - The paper aims to focus on organizational and institutional strategies, including a case study from the University of Tennessee, concerned with recruiting librarians from diverse backgrounds. Design/methodology/approach - Programs from the Association for Research Libraries, the American Library Association, OCLC, and IFLA for recruiting librarians from diverse backgrounds are reviewed. An in-depth case study of the University of Tennessee Diversity Libraries Residency Program is included to provide a detailed example of a successful program and its contributions locally and to the research library field. Findings - The paper provides strategies and a catalyst for other organizations and institutions to develop robust recruitment programs for a diverse workforce in academic libraries. Originality/value - Thi spaper lays out strategies for robust diversity recruiting activities at the organizational and institutional level using the University of Tennessee's experiences as a basis for discussion.