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Using the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) 2018 statistical reports, this study reports the current diversity status of LIS students. The findings are as follows: (1) overall LIS graduates' diversity has improved from 6.79% to 17.47% over the past 30 years, and particularly, the increase in the number of Hispanic graduates is noticeable; (2) however, LIS graduates' diversity does not follow the trends of the US population diversity: whereas 37% of the US population is minority, 17.43% of LIS graduates are minority students; (3) the ratio of LIS minority graduates (17.43%) is lower than the ratio of LIS minority students (20.70%); (4) larger disparities among LIS students are noticed in the most ethnically diverse states; and (5) the rate of minority students among the top ten LIS schools is lower than those of overall LIS schools, except the Asian group.

The following article presents an overview of the poverty and dispossession of the white working class in the twenty-first century. It explores the manner in which librarians' diminished connection to labor and denigration of Trump voters are combining to erode the library mission of service to all. It concludes with suggestions for reconnection and renewal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research libraries and schools of library and information science education face a similar challenge, namely how do they fit into the university of the future? To explore this challenge some limits must be made on the range of discussion. First, this paper looks at librarian education programs that operate within research universities and are expected to strive to fulfill the mission of a research institution. Second, for the sake of discussion, the library in the research university is characterized-recognizing that this topic will be explored more fully by other contributors to this volume. Third, librarian educators are often disarmed by trying to address at every turn the full spectrum of concerns regarding preparation of librarians and information professionals. This paper focuses on the preparation of librarians for the research environment recognizing that some of the issues addressed here relate to the preparation of all librarians. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on librarians identified as Wikipedians, who create and edit articles for the free Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia, and provides a summary of the work done by students enrolled in the courses "Wikipedia and Knowledge Management," "History of Books and Libraries," and "Librarians and Human Rights" at the University of South Florida, School of Information in Tampa. Topics discussed include crowdsourcing, gender gap among Wikepedia editors, and information literacy.

Various information resources regarding labor unions in the U.S. are presented. A book review for "Wisconsin Uprising: Labor Fights Back" edited by Michael D. Yates is provided as well as information on union blogs from the Progressive Librarians Guild (PLG). Information on union activity from the 2011 American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting and a bibliography of union resources are also presented.

The article focuses on the union highlights in 2009-2010 based on the Progressive Librarians Guild (PLG) project Union Librarian, a blog of library union news. It says that 2,400 Toronto librarians voted to leave the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 416 to establish their own union on March 2009. The Murray-Green Library at the Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois received the 2010 John Sessions Memorial Award in recognition for its efforts to work with the labor community.

The article offers an overview of the situation facing public libraries in Louisiana and the measures taken by librarians to rebuild their communities after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita were Category 5 hurricanes of the 2005 Atlantic season. In response to the devastation caused by the hurricanes, the Hurricane Digital Memory Bank was created to collect, preserve, and present the stories and digital record of the hurricanes. Other major projects include the formation of the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund to support rebuilding libraries.

This article examines how community colleges fulfill their promise of cultural institutions. There are three kinds of life-skills education and engagement offered by cultural institutions. The first, dubbed a life-skill of the highest order, is involvement with story, meaning the creation of narrative for sorting and constructing the contexts of the world. The second benefit to learners in cultural institutions may be paraphrased as stimulating critical thinking and providing a safe haven for what the philosophers call the examined life. Third is the opportunity for social connection with other people and their stories, their creative acts, made possible by the essential public spaces of cultural institutions. The three benefits, or life skills, available to cultural-institution visitors seem to overlap slightly, suggesting the integrated nature of the learning experienced in these environments. The key word is connection. Cultural institutions provide us with sacred public spaces where we can connect intellectually with previously unknown information and ideas and connect emotionally with ancestors, living loved ones, and parts of ourselves that have been ignored, forgotten, denied, or diminished by living within the confines of our structured, hyper-accelerated, technologically dominated lives.