The personal SWOT strategy is utilized by examining internal factors such as strengths and weaknesses, and external factors such as opportunities and threats to plan one’s career. It is advisable however, that before conducting the analysis there should be developed a list of outcomes one aspires to achieve followed by the development of action plans as follows:
The essence of most Library Diversity Residency programs is to foster an early career librarians’ professional growth while investing in the libraries’ commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. Recruiting and retaining librarians for future positions in various types of libraries is both critical and challenging in today’s environment. It is imperative that we recognize the demographic and cultural changes in the communities that we serve, and promote diversity by recruiting, mentoring, and providing professional opportunities to diverse early career librarians.
Having a clear onboarding program and well-defined milestones throughout the residency is one means to help new residents get acclimated to both the profession as a whole and your library specifically. It is also important to understand that residents may be new to the area as well as the profession, although this is not always the case so it is incumbent upon residency coordinators and supervisors to tailor residency experiences to the background, interests, goals and prior experience of each resident rather than provide a one size fits all residency. This article details suggestions for helping residents get acclimated to librarianship, your library, and their (possibly new) community.
This article represents a summary of my doctoral research findings. These findings are based on my dissertation data results and other data in the library literature on diversity residencies, and are intended to offer some suggestions on planning, implementing and hosting library diversity residencies most effectively.
