Adopted at 1989 Annual Conference

WHEREAS the recruitment and retention of minority library workers is an important goal in diversifying the library workplace;

WHEREAS recent press accounts, including American Libraries have reported on the investigation into charges of bias against minority librarians at the University of California, Irvine, campus;

WHEREAS of 45 librarians, only 1 Black, 1 Latina, and 5 Asian/Pacific American librarians remain at UCI;

WHEREAS UCI boasts the largest Asian/Pacific American student body enrollment in the U.S. outside Hawaii, at over 30 percent, for a total minority student enrollment at about 50 percent;

WHEREAS the American Federation of Teachers Local 2226 is currently defending an Asian/Pacific American librarian denied a merit pay raise after a supervisor removed clippings on Asian studies from his office wall;

WHEREAS another Asian/Pacific librarian has sought legal counsel and the advice of the union after leaving his job of over 20 years;

WHEREAS the UCI Faculty Senate has set up a special committee to investigate affirmative action practices at the UCI library;

WHEREAS the UCI administration has agreed to an outside peer review of the UCI library;

BE IT RESOLVED, THAT the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the 91´«Ã½ urge the UCI administration to:

1. Recommit itself to the free expression of ideas and the free dissemination of information by rescinding any policies restricting the dissemination or posting of information by library workers on their office walls;
2. Improve its recruitment of minority librarians by announcing vacancies in the SRRT Newsletter and advertising in publications from minority librarian organizations;
3. Consult with the Director of the 91´«Ã½'s Office of Library Outreach Services, Sybil Moses, as to the composition of the outside peer review panel to investigate the library's operations, to ensure a culturally diverse makeup of the panel.