Valuing Library and Archives Labor: Assessing the Implications of Internships on the Library and Archives Community

It is widely accepted that internships are important in libraries and archives professional training and correlate positively with future job prospects. Yet the potential costs, particularly of unpaid internships, for diversity and inclusion, and to community engagement capacities and professional values are understudied. In this Community Catalysts Early Career Development project, Dr. Marika Cifor at the University of Washington, will conduct a three-year investigation into the implications of internships for recruiting, training, developing, and retaining a diverse workforce prepared to engender social wellbeing through U.S. library and archive (LA) institutions. Using data collected through quantitative and qualitative methods, the project will result in benchmarks for LA labor practices that will benefit American libraries and archives as well as the individuals and local communities who work in and with them.