The creation of the Page Fellowship program in 2003 was a result of a combination of events:

1. a staff workload analysis had shown a need for additional shelving hours assigned to libraries;
2. a diversity survey had made it clear that staff should better reflect the communities we serve; and
3. a teen training program had proven that there was a greater need for specific training in workplace norms for individuals in their first jobs.

In addition, it became apparent when we started the program that careers in libraries were unimaginable for those who were new to patronizing libraries and even for some who were already library patrons. There was a perception in the communities we served that everyone who worked in a library had to have an advanced degree, had to have a sophisticated set of job skills and had to speak English as a first language. The Page Fellowship program was not entirely a success from the start. Early on not all of the Page Fellows and supervisors were having a positive experience. Information on how to supervise was inadequate and some Fellows went two years with hardly any career development. Five years ago, we engaged in some self-reflection, and then rebuilt the entire program based upon a better understanding of how to achieve our purpose, recruitment and retention.

We surveyed participants, identified best practices and tested models. We codified essential training, and created checklists and calendars. We formalized the evaluation process with specific descriptions about expected behaviors. We trained the supervisors on the new standards to help them be successful. Key elements of our success now are: Our community centered upbeat recruitment process: We habitually identify new target populations. We strategize community outreach efforts to meet people where they are. We network in order to inform about the library. We address the pushback that stems from the perception that there are too many barriers to library employment. Our transparent Training Work plan: Our Fellows and supervisors follow a clearly described and rigorous training program. Purposeful career development includes hands on work, job shadowing activities, site tours, community outreach, and training in software, interpersonal skills, interview skills preparation, leadership and community outreach. The work plan also includes English Language Learning (ELL) and accent reduction classes if needed. Regular reality based evaluations: Informed and transparent evaluations are key. We have designed a series of iterative evaluations that include consideration of both advancement in job skills and increasingly sophisticated interpersonal skills. Supervisors numerically rate Page Fellows using a shared descriptive template of expectations creating consistency in rating across the system. Each review is more complex than the last one requiring a Fellow who is working at an acceptable level after three months to be exhibiting in a year more complex work and understanding. By the end of the two-year program, a Fellow should have the skills and experiences that will allow him or her to work seamlessly alongside our most valued front line staff.

We are very proud to say that now former Page Fellows are more than welcome as regular employees in many positions in the King County Library System. Hiring managers value Page Fellows as candidates because it is common knowledge how broadly experienced, determined and well trained they are. More than one hundred twenty, or one tenth, of the KCLS workforce are former Fellows engaged in direct public services positions, with 75% of them falling under a diversity category. Most are working in circulation, but many have advanced to positions on the information desk and/or are supervisors, even supervisors of Page Fellows. In March, KCLS presented the Page Fellowship program at the PLA annual conference, describing our rationale, our early struggles, and our successful redesign. We described how other libraries could institute a similar program to help diversify their library workforce, even with one single ambitious Fellow and a future thinking and innovative supervisor. We also created an online Dropbox site where we shared the entire contents of the Page Fellowship notebooks, the calendars, the checklists, the training list and the evaluation documents as well as an FAQ on the program that resulted from the Q&A after our presentation. The Fellowship program is entirely reproducible at any level. Out of many workshops presented, we were one of a very few that were highlighted in Library Journal.