What’s up with the name?!

A few months ago it came up in a conversation about the name of my blog. Why keep it the diversity fellow blog when I am no longer a diversity fellow?  Great question! I wanted to keep the name to remind myself and to inform others that this was my way into this profession.  I did not get a non-precarious librarian job when I got my Master of Library Science(MLS) degree.  My way into this profession was by being a diversity fellow.  Don’t get me wrong I am glad that I was a diversity fellow because I met Twanna Hodge and I am part of a community of librarians that got their start in this profession by being a diversity fellow or diversity resident.  Besides, by working in a medical library I knew that this was the type of librarianship that I wanted to be apart of. The bitter part of this all is that this seemed like the only way that I could get into this profession. Even with so many job postings stating that they encouraged new graduates, I was not given that opportunity of being interviewed.  So if Upstate never created their diversity fellowship program who knows if I would have ever gotten a library job.  I had to gain experience and get someone to vouch for me to get my next gig.  When I write about anti-black racism in libraries, it does not just come from a place of research but mostly from a place of personal experience.  I have so many stories that I have experienced that let me know that this profession is not ready for librarians like me.  But despite all the hoops and the barriers that I had to overcome, I became a librarian.  With my limited influence, I want to make it better for people trying to enter our profession.    My blog being called the diversity fellow blog will remain because this is how I got here.