JENNIFERARCHULETASANTURE

“Recognize the diversity (such as cultural and economic) in the clientele and employees of an information organization and be familiar with actions the organization should take to address this diversity.”

 

Statement of Competency C

 

Public library institutions in the United States have the broad mission of meeting the informational, educational, and recreational needs of the communities in which they are embedded.  They are faced with the unique challenge of making sure that the varied needs of the diverse individuals that comprise these communities are met through its programs, services, and collections (McCook, 2011).  This difficulty is further compounded by the fact that some members of these communities have been historically under or un-served, both in our information institutions and in society (McCook, 2011).  America is an amazingly diverse society because of the vast cultural differences of the people that make up our country, and together, form a colorful and unique landscape.  I am acutely aware of some of these cultural and economic differences because of my own racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic background; I am an ethnic and racial mix of Chinese-American, Latino, and Native American, and my family is lower-middle class.  My unique experiences of being both a cultural insider and outsider have necessarily shaped my understanding of the world.  This view has made me an ardent supporter of the idea that professionals in the library field must be both socially and culturally competent in order to best serve the needs of our communities through everything we do.  Further, as library professionals we must be especially cognizant of the information needs of those who have been historically marginalized.  In order to do this, we must carefully craft our programs, services, and collections in attempt to minimize and eliminate the invisibility and marginalization that these individuals and communities have faced and continue to face.  These differences can fall into two broad categories, cultural and economic, and library professionals must be able to recognize the diversity of the individuals that make up their communities in order to best address their needs.

 

Culture influences the way that people interact with each other, but understanding just what culture is and how it is formed is complex.  G. Edward Evans and Patricia Ward (2007, p. 55) describe many different layers of culture that characterize people:

 

• a national level, according to one’s country (or countries, for people who migrated during their lifetimes)

• a regional, ethnic, religious, and/or linguistic affiliation level, as most nations are composed of culturally different regions and ethnic, religious, and/or language groups

• a gender level, according to whether a person is female or male

• a generational level, which separates grandparents from parents from children

• a social class level, associated with educational opportunities and with a person’s occupation or profession

• a disability level, associated with physical disabilities or other special needs.

 

It is important for library professionals to be able to identify and understand these different layers in order to meet the varied needs of each through library services, collections, and programs.  Librarians must recognize that they are the gatekeepers of information, and understand that this serious responsibility requires them to take the entire community into account, not just the most visible or normative segments (McCook, 2011).  In order to better understand how cultural diversity is important to library professionals, let’s take a closer look at a particular cultural group, their information needs, and why meeting them through library programs, services, and collections is important. 

 

A cultural group that is often invisible in our society, due to their sexual or gender orientation, are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals.  LGBT teens and young adults in particular are a historically marginalized part of the group, both in society and in libraries.  Because individuals within this group can suffer from isolation due to stigma and marginalization of their cultural identities, they are often at-risk for issues such as violence, homelessness, substance abuse, and suicide (Downey, 2005).  Libraries and librarians are in a unique position to reduce these risks through access to quality teen LGBT materials, and direction to LGBT agencies and resources (Downey, 2005).  Historically, most library collections have provided deficient collections to this particular population for a variety of reasons including misunderstanding how materials are used by this group, and the personal uncomfortableness with LGBT topics and issues by library professionals (Downey, 2005).  One such misunderstanding about teen LGBT information use is the misinterpretation of low circulation numbers of teen LGBT materials in the library collection.  Without taking into consideration the position of LGBT teens, librarians may believe that these materials are not being used.  However, when the marginalization and stigma of LGBT issues in many communities is considered, librarians may realize that items are not being checked out and only being used within library facilities because of fear of being “outed” by the possession of such LGBT materials (2005).  A study by Linda B. Alexander and Sarah Miselis (2007) found that many teen LGBT collections in public collections continue to be deficient, often due to self-censorship by librarians.  Often this censorship is hidden because it isn’t done through outright book-banning, but rather by materials not being ordered at all for these collections (Downey, 2005).  Librarians have a professional obligation to support intellectual freedom for all, to reject censorship, and to separate their personal beliefs from their professional duties.

 

Another factor that can differentiate people and shape their information needs is their socio-economic standing in society.  Studies on the demographics of library users have shown that public library cardholders (age 16 or older) are more likely to have higher levels of education or live in higher income households (Zickuhr, Rainie, Purcell, & Duggan, 2013).  One socio-economic group that has been traditionally marginalized in society and underserved in our public library institutions are the homeless.  According to the Stewart B. McKinney Act, a person who experiences homelessness “is one who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence; and has a primary night-time residency that is either provided by a shelter…or a place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings” (Wong, 2009, p. 399).  Those who experience homelessness are a diverse group of people whose information needs are equally as varied.  The public library can also serve as a safe haven for these individuals who often have nowhere else to go.  There are several barriers that exist in libraries that can make it difficult for homeless library users to fully take advantage of its services, programs, and collections.  For example, a lack of funds can make it difficult or impossible for homeless users to pay library fines and service fees.  Many library systems require users to have a permanent residential address in order to obtain a library card, but this creates a barrier to homeless library users who live on the streets or rely on shelters or other temporary housing.  Library cards are often needed in order to borrow materials, use paid databases and resources, and to use public computer terminals in library facilities.  Homeless patrons are left out of fully taking advantage of such library services to meet their information needs because of such barriers (Wong, 2009).  The public library and librarians have both legal and ethical obligations to allow their facilities, services, and collections to be used by all members of their communities, no matter their socio-economic situations.  Librarians must fully be aware of the socio-economic diversity and challenges of all members of their communities in order to minimize and eliminate barriers to access in their organizations to these groups.  By promoting equal access to information and advocating for historically marginalized groups, such as the poor and homeless, the public library can uphold its foundational value of being a truly democratic institution. 

 

What makes American society so amazing is the wonderful diversity of the individuals that make up our communities.  These differences can take shape through both cultural and economic factors, and it is a librarian’s responsibility to minimize barriers to underserved, marginalized, and invisible groups in their communities.  This is not an easy task, as there has been much marginalization of individuals in many groups, both in our society and in our library organizations.  Luckily, librarianship is not a profession that exists within a vacuum - rather, communication and networking between professionals in the field is of paramount importance.  There are a variety of professional organizations and subgroups within these organizations that exist to focus attention on services that are inclusive of traditionally underserved populations, to ensure that there are information and resources available for librarians to develop strategies to meet their information needs, and for providing recommendations to create authentic and representative collections, services, and programs (McCook, 2011).  These groups include the Reference & User Services Association (RUSA), the ALA Office for Diversity, the ALA Office of Literacy & Outreach Services (OLOS), the ALA Ethnic & Multicultural Information Round Table (EMIERT), the ALA Hunger, Homelessness, and Poverty Task Force (HHPTF), and the ALA Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Roundtable (GLBTRT). In addition, there are a variety of ethnic and racial library associations such as the American Indian Library Association, Asian & Pacific Librarians Association, and the National Association to Promote Library & Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish Speaking (REFORMA).  When library professionals share their wealth of knowledge about the diversity of the world we live in with each other, the libraries that are embedded in our communities are better equipped to provide the best collections, resources, services, and programs to meet the information needs of all.

  

Evidence

 

Evidence 1: LIBR-200: Can Access Be Meaningful Again? An Exploration of the Changing Landscape of Prison Law Libraries, Final Paper and Presentation

 

This term paper and its accompanying, narrated PowerPoint presentation was created for LIBR-200: Information and Society.  The purpose of this assignment was to analyze a significant issue confronting the information profession and professionals today.  In this course I first learned about prison libraries, which are information organizations located in detention facilities in the United States.  These facilities are unique because they must meet the information needs of prisoners in a very strict and regimented environment.  In this paper I explore the history of the provision of prison libraries and prison law libraries from a legal standpoint, the specific informational needs of the inmate population today, and the various roles that librarians play in this unique environment.  The in-depth research that I conducted about this topic helped to open my eyes about the varied and unique needs of this particular diverse population, and the ways in which library professionals have worked to ensure that these needs are met.  This paper highlights the challenges of a particular cultural group in our society whose information (and other) needs have been historically underserved, and illustrates just how big of an impact library professionals can make in providing continued access to a variety of materials, in addition to services and resources needed by this population. 

 

Evidence 2: LIBR-275- The Homeless and Public Libraries, Final Paper 

 

This final paper was created for LIBR-275: Library Services for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Communities.  This course was paramount in developing my awareness about the diverse cultural and economic communities that exist in the United States today, and how libraries and other information organizations can meet their varied informational, educational, and recreational needs.  The purpose of the final term paper for this course was to explore in-depth a self-selected topic of interest related to the focus of the class.  I was interested in researching the topic of the homeless and public libraries based on my personal experiences with this population during my employment experience in a public library embedded in a community with a significant homeless population.  I wanted to better understand this population because I had witnessed on many occasions how individuals from this group faced barriers to accessing the services, collections, programs, and resources offered by my library.  In this paper I discuss the characteristics of the homeless population, their unique information needs, their barriers to access of resources and services in public libraries, and solutions to some of issues discussed.  The experience of researching and writing this paper opened my eyes about the unique needs of this particular group, and about the serious responsibility that libraries and librarians have to serve all members of their communities.

 

Evidence 3: LIBR-232- El Cerrito Public Library: Technology and Computers Assessment Paper 

 

This research paper was written for LIBR-232: Issues in Public Libraries.  For this class we were required to choose one branch/location of a public library system to focus on throughout the course of the semester.  Using this chosen library, we were responsible for a series of three separate analytical papers, chosen from a list of many topics, in which we explored a variety of aspects related to the library such as their services, computers and technology, collections, governance, or programs.  These papers required comprehensive demographic research about the community the library is located in, in addition to physical visits to the library itself for observation. 

 

This particular paper is an assessment of the computers and technology available at my chosen library, the El Cerrito Public Library (part of the Contra Costa County Library System located in California), discussed in relationship to the community the library is embedded in.  The paper provides an overview of relevant facts about the community including racial and ethnic makeup, Internet usage, generational demographics, and number of schools and students in the area.  The paper also discusses the types of technology and computers offered by this particular library, and critically evaluates these offerings.  This critique includes a discussion of the quantity and quality of computers available, the locations of the available computers, the marketing of these technology offerings, and the accessibility and adaptive technologies available at the library.  I found that many of these technology provisions were lacking, especially the accessibility and adaptive technologies that are required by law to be provided for persons with special needs and disabilities.  Lastly, a list of recommendations needed to improve the library’s technology and computer services is provided at the end of the document.  This paper helped me to understand one aspect of this particular library’s services, that of technology, in relationship to the needs of its particular community.  This skill of identifying a community’s needs is invaluable, and will be something that I must be ready to do as a future library professional.  We must ensure, through evaluation and thorough understanding of our communities, that the services, programs, and collections we provide in our information organizations are tailored to the needs of our users.

 

References

 

Alexander, L. B., & Miselis, S. D. (2007). Barriers to GLBTQ collection development and

strategies for overcoming them. Young Adult Library Services, 5(3), 43-49. Retrieved from http://www.yalsa.ala.org/yals/

 

 

Downey, J. (2005). Public library collection development issues regarding the information

needs of GLBT patrons. Progressive Librarian, 25, 86-95. Retrieved from 

http://www.progressivelibrariansguild.org/PL_Jnl/jnl_contents.shtml

 

 

Evans, G. E., & Ward, P. L. (2007). Management basics for information professionals (2nd ed.).

New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

 

 

McCook, K. D. (2011). Introduction to public librarianship (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Neal-

Schuman Publishers, Inc.

 

 

Wong, Y. L. (2009). Homelessness in public libraries. Journal of Access Services, 6(3), 396-410.

doi: 10.1080/15367960902908599

 

 

Zickuhr, K., Rainie, L., Purcell, K., & Duggan, M. (2013). Section 1: An overview of Americans’

public library use. Pew Internet & American Life Project.  Retrieved from

http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2013/12/11/section-1-an-overview-of-americans-public-library-use/

 

 

Evidence Files

 

Click to download the following files:

 

LIBR-200 Can Access be Meaningful Again?:

An Exploration of the Changing Landscape of Prision Law Libraries

 

LIBR-275 The Homeless and Public Libraries

 

LIBR-232 El Cerrito Public Library: Technology and Computers Assessment