What does it mean when a library’s collection can be dissected into segments and categories of approval? Perhaps the better question is: Who decides what is considered approvable material? Are the approval of these items based on popularity? Usefulness? Quality of the writing? Overtness of content? Budget allocation? Or is there an agenda attached to the approval of these items, the kind that lines up perfectly with the approver’s ideological, political, cultural, or societal worldview? On the one hand, these are difficult questions to answer.

But on the other hand, the answers to these questions are easily found in the patrons the library serves. A library is the community’s great equalizer. It is a place for all regardless of income, race, creed, sexual orientation, education level, station, community status, or any other constructed demographic. The beauty of this philosophical service framework is that a library has one job: provide the best resources (e.g. digital or physical materials, programming, space, expertise, etc.) to the community it serves. A well represented collection does just that, even if a difficult task.

Bias is certainly represented within a library’s collection. In fact, I would argue that it is natural for book selectors to purchase materials that specifically interest the individual purchaser. That being said, there is a needed balance in a library’s collection to ensure that a topic is covered—to the best of the library’s ability—from each end of the spectrum and everything in between. Too much or too little of a perspective is a disservice to the community, and also deteriorates the integrity of the collection as a whole. Relegating LGBTQ-themed books to a specific location in the stacks is anathema to what the stacks truly symbolize. It is within the stacks that all voices are collected together. It is within the stacks that different peoples and cultures await discovery. It is within the stacks that the spectrum of thought is fully recognized from A-Z. It is within the stacks that all are given the same treatment. And it is within the stacks that the user of the library can safely go to their favorite authors time and time again, or, if bold, they can randomly or serendipitously choose a new venue of entertainment or enlightenment.

Stories—even the stories we do not like—humble and humanize, educate and empower, offer a new perspective or reinforce understanding of the world. No one is forced to seek a new perspective or introduce themselves to a new voice about a subject. But there is a danger to always finding solace in a single perspective. A continuous, non-altering, single perspective may give credence to the sole individual’s worldview, but it can also be an insular, myopic perspective. As our country continuously redefines itself, it is of crucial importance that diversity is not only represented, but also celebrated. This does not mean that we all have to agree with each other about everything. It means that we can disagree without being disagreeable. It means that materials for you may not be the materials for me, and vice-versa. But it also means there is the option for us to explore a different perspective.

Libraries across the country open their doors every morning to a populace with needs. All of these needs differ. Some want access to technology. Some want to enter a space that is welcoming and safe. Some want to be entertained. Some want to be educated. Some just want someone else to see them as a fellow human being. All of these needs are important. Through inclusivity, the celebration of diversity, and the belief that a library enriches and empowers a community, all who enter a library know that their voice, their constructed demographic, is represented.

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The library workforce fails to reflect the increasing diversity of our communities. No matter which study is looked at, the demographics of the library workforce remain largely white and female. In 2005, Keith Curry Lance showed the public library workforce lacked diversity.² Over a decade later, the AFL-CIO recognizes “persistent lack of racial diversity” as an issue for library workers. Our circulation and reference desks do not reflect our communities.³ So how can we move toward providing services to audiences our staff does not represent?

This is not a new challenge or a challenge unique to libraries. But it is an essential one for 21st century public libraries to tackle. According to Pew Research, “by 2055, the United States will no longer have a single ethnic majority.” Obviously, our past efforts are not keeping pace.⁴

According to the Ithaka study we “need look no further than professional development initiatives and growth pathways for MLS-holders to begin diversifying librarianship.” As professionals, we have a duty to take this recommendation to heart. As individuals, we can expand our knowledge of diversity and bias. We can seek perspectives different from our own to expand our understanding. We can use this knowledge to reshape the public library workforce.

An effort we can take as individuals is to better understand our own implicit biases. As librarians, we take pride in offering unbiased service and providing equal access to all. However, our own upbringing in communities less diverse than those of today means we have inherited bias. A tool to help understand your own implicit bias can be found from Harvard University. Project Implicit is a study measuring social attitudes related to race. It takes only a few minutes to complete, and is a window into understanding bias impacting your own unconscious decisions.

Meeting people where they are at is also an important step. It’s easy to slip into assumptions about programming offerings, displays, or collections that “should” be interesting to diverse audiences. Talk to the people in your community as a first step before developing programs and services. Just because a program worked at another library doesn’t mean it will work for your community. Focus groups held in venues outside the library is one way to reach new audiences. Consider the roadblocks to participation as you plan. Is time of day, venue, or location a barrier for the people you are trying to reach? Find members from the specific neighborhood to help you plan culturally responsive outreach.

One initiative from the Public Library Association recently attempted to tackle this issue head on. The Inclusive Internship Initiative grant placed high school students from diverse backgrounds into public library internship roles. Students worked with a librarian mentor and got a chance to meet other interns from around the country. Efforts like these are exactly what is needed to energize the next generation of librarians and recruit them from a broader community.

Some libraries are going one step further and creating specific positions to attract a more diverse workforce. Rethinking job descriptions and position requirements can open the door to a more diverse library workforce. Hennepin County Library developed grant-funded positions that required bilingual skills rather than a library degree to develop services to reach Hmong, Somali and Latino people. The St. Paul Public Library was part of a citywide Racial Equity Initiative taking action to reduce inequity. They altered their hiring practices and job promotion structures to recruit a more diverse workforce.⁵

A diverse library workforce is essential for public libraries to effectively serve their communities. We each have a responsibility to take action. It is time to change our workforce demographics to better reflect the people we serve. Individual professional development, improved outreach efforts, or restructuring job opportunities are steps we can take today. If we are effective in our efforts, measurable results will follow.

References

1. “The White Face of Library Leadership: Survey reveals overwhelmingly white face of leadership in research libraries”. Accessed October 29, 2017. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/08/30/survey-reveals-overwhelmingly-white-face-leadership-research-libraries.
2.  Lance, Keith Curry. “Racial and Ethnic Diversity of U.S. Library Workers.” American Libraries. May 2005. Accessed October 29, 2017. https://www.lrs.org/documents/workforce/Racial_and_Ethnic.pdf.
3.  “Library Workers: Facts & Figures.” Department for Professional Employees – AFL/CIO. October 24, 2017. Accessed October 29, 2017. http://dpeaflcio.org/programs-publications/issue-fact-sheets/library-workers-facts-figures/
4. http://www.ala.org/tools/sites/ala.org.tools/files/content/Draft%20of%20Member%20Demographics%20Survey%2001-11-2017.pdf
5. Cohn, D’Vera, and Andrea Caumont. “10 demographic trends that are shaping the U.S. and the world.” Pew Research Center. March 31, 2016. Accessed October 29, 2017. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/03/31/10-demographic-trends-that-are-shaping-the-u-s-and-the-world/.

⁵Reworking the Workforce | Diversity 2016.” Library Journal. December 06, 2016. Accessed October 29, 2017. http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2016/12/diversity/reworking-the-workforce-diversity-2016/.

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• Are they prepared in terms of collections, services, spaces, programs, staffing and communications?
• Do they have the visibility, identity, and partners necessary to connect with Boomers?
• Are they ready and able to allocate the resources necessary to respond to the age wave?

The traditional paradigm, equating senior services with sedentary and retired adults or homebound individuals, has been replaced by a healthier and more active 55+ population, one that is not restricted to a “one size fits all” description. Some Boomers are still in the workforce, while others are looking to engage in the same activities as their younger counterparts.

Diantha Dow Schull, principal of D.D. Schull Associates and author of 50+ Library Services: Innovation in Action (ALA Editions, 2013) emphasizes that “chronological age is less important than individual preferences and circumstances.”

In some communities, libraries are creating new relationships with older adults by re-branding themselves as lifelong learning centers as well as establishing themselves as vibrant community centers where older adults can engage in and interact with one another.

Many libraries have developed innovative and creative programs and approaches to working with these Boomers including:

• Next Chapter, @ New York Public Library: special programming, new classes, multiple partnerships, grant-funded projects, a blog, and a Facebook page.

• Senior Moments blog (http://www.bklynlibrary.org/blog/senior-moments ), Brooklyn Public Library’s blog that showcases unique programs for Boomers, such as Xbox gaming classes, poetry readings and computer training at the library.Book to Action (PDF), Multnomah County (Oreg.): book-discussion model where participants read a text concerning a particular social issue, such as local farming or domestic abuse, and then visit a local nonprofit working on that issue to help with a service project or community event.

• The Creative Aging Public Libraries Project, a program developed by Lifetime Arts in a partnership with the Westchester (N.Y.) Library System: an arts education program for older adults.

• Connect Care, Queens Public Library: educational health programs and free health screenings at eight Queens library branches in partnership with Albert Einstein Medical Center.

Still, many libraries lag behind; some continue to offer limited “senior” services. Schull says that large-print books, weekly movie programs, and outreach to senior centers or nursing homes are important and certainly merit attention in order to meet the needs of the frail and isolated elderly.

However, Schull emphasizes that libraries need to acknowledge the demographic changes taking place across the country and the potential for libraries to become community centers for the many independent, active, engaged older adults who are redefining aging in America.

The ALA Office of Literacy and Outreach (OLOS) Toolkit, Keys to Engaging Older Adults @ your library: Libraries can empower older adults with engaging programs and services, offers suggestions for programming, key terms, links to resources and partner agencies as well as funding resources and tools for writing a successful grant. It is an invaluable resource for library systems that want to improve or develop a program that keeps pace with the changing face of the Baby Boomer population.

The Baby Boom population has changed the world many times in the last 70 or so years: a 1950s population boom, the advent of Rock and Roll, as well as a Civil Rights and War protest that changed the face of history.

Now, they are demanding changes in library services.

James Welbourne, City Librarian Director at the New Haven, Connecticut Free Public Library, describes the challenges that libraries have in meeting these demands: “There is a new language addressing this population and it is not “senior.” It is about being mature adult, the third age, the next challenge, productive aging, and much more…We have a lot of ground to cover.”

Whatever word we eventually choose, there is no debate—library services for individuals 55+ need to be re-defined in new and creative ways.

*Blogger, Marybeth Zeman, writes from firsthand experience—a “Baby Boomer”, born in the 1950s, she returned to get her MLIS at St. John’s University in 2009 and is presently pursuing a second career in library science. She intends on providing library services as well as receiving them.

Works Cited

[1] Baby Boomer Generation Fast Facts. (2013, November 6). CNN. US. Retrieved August 18, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/us/baby-boomer-generation-fast-facts/

[2] Schull, D. (2013). 50+ Library Services: Innovation in Action. Chicago: ALA Editions.

[3] Outreach and Diversity. (n.d.). American Library Report 2014. Retrieved August 18, 2014, from http://www.ala.org/news/state-americas-libraries-report-2014/diversity

[4] Ibid

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