Black Caucus of the American Library Association

Through a National Forum grant, the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) will organize a one-day pre-conference event to strengthen support for Black/African American master's in Library and Information Science (MLIS) students. Up to 50 LIS students, professionals, and educators will convene to distill effective approaches for increasing BCALA's outreach to emerging librarians. The forum will precede the 2020 National Conference for African American Librarians and will produce: 1. a toolkit of resources for librarians and educators to recruit Black/African American librarians; and 2. an online, program-independent iBlackCaucus student group. Given the low rates of retention of Black librarians and the field's commitment to increased professional diversity, the project has the potential to provide the communication and resources necessary to support Black librarians early in their careers.