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University of Maryland, iSchool AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALE LIBRARIANS ASSOCIATION AAMLA Determined to increase the African American Male’s presence in the library field What is AAMLA? AAMLA is a group of African American male librarians who have come together under the understanding that as a specific ethnic and gender group within the field of librarianship faces extinction a concerted effort is needed to recruit and retain more African American males. Currently within the field of librarianship, the African American male represents less than one percent of the total US librarian population. Therefore, as African-American men, we total less than six hundred out of the one hundred and ten thousand degreed librarians. The members of AAMLA view this as a crisis and began coming together in the early part of September of 2010. AAMLA’s president Alonzo Hill states it this way -- “The AAMLA is an organization that is geared toward recruiting, retaining, and restructuring how we operate as individual librarians, so we can operate as a collective, network and lastly a beacon that will provide and ensure that we are successful with our endeavors as professional librarians.” The President’s view reinforces the need for action. AAMLA is a collective body which affirms its duty to create an organization that has the sole mission of recruiting and mentoring African American males. AAMLA’s Vice President, Michael Eric Owens, conveys it this way -- “Out of our self-determination, we have created an Association that represents and speaks uniquely to the experiences of African-American male librarians. We endeavor to unite all black male librarians in our industry for the sole purpose of empowering the least among us. Our desire was not born out of ill will toward any organization, but out of sheer determination to chart our own course.” AAMLA OFFICERS FOR 2010-2012 President -- Alonzo W. Hill, Michigan Vice President -- Michael E. Owens, Oklahoma Secretary -- Raphael D. Jackson, Florida Treasurer -- Richard E. Ashby, Jr., New York Public Relationist -- Marcellaus A. Joiner, North Carolina Membership Officer -- Bobby Walter, Michigan Historian -- Derek Mosley, Massachusetts