RECRUITMENT OF LIBRARY WORKERS FROM BLACK COMMUNITIES

It is acknowledged that the majority concerned with equal opportunities are looking for strategies to placate minorities rather than concede the right to share. Strategies to increase and retain employees within public librarianship are described and the ways in which services and the profession itself are promoted at present are examined as an important element to improve representation. Links which are beneficial to the profession, service and community are reforged using targeting and marketing techniques to form an action plan for effective service delivery, including the production of information in community languages and involving local talent through the provision of a platform for shared public interests. A plan to address the under‐representation of black employees at all levels within the organisation is devised, using legislation where appropriate to subsidise targeted posts. The plan aims to create a sense of ownership which should exist throughout the service to all employees and should be adapted to include strategies for addressing gender, disability and class barriers to opportunity.