Running Head: THE IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN PUBLIC LIBRARY 1

COLLECTIONS & PRACTICES

The Importance of Diversity and Inclusion in Public Library Collections & Practices

Margae Schmidt

Dominican University
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While participating at the annual Illinois Library Association (ILA) Conference this fall I

attended multiple programs about diversity and inclusion in collection development and library

practices. I am very passionate about this topic because I recently gave birth to my first child less

than a year ago. I want my daughter to grow up in a world where diversity and inclusion are

common practice for public and private organizations, especially libraries. The American Library

Association’s (ALA) interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights includes a summary of a

librarian’s role regarding diversity in collection development. The article states, “Librarians have

a professional responsibility to be fair, just, and equitable and to give all library users equal

protection in guarding against violation of the library patron’s right to read, view, or listen to

content protected by the First Amendment, no matter what the viewpoint of the author, creator,

or selector.” (ALA, 2018) Diversity and inclusion broaden and expand the world’s knowledge.

The importance of diverse and inclusive library collections, staff, and practices unite humanity

for the greater good of future generations.

There are four key factors to consider when addressing differences between various kinds

of people within a community. Understanding that multiculturalism, inclusion, equity, and

diversity all play a pivotal role in bringing people together from different backgrounds.

Multiculturalism is celebrating various cultures. Some steps a library can take to incorporate

multiculturalism into their library are “Month-long cultural celebrations, cross-cultural

dialogues, or rotating exhibits of different cultures embody some of the most popular

multiculturalism efforts.” (Hirsh, 2018, p.53) Inclusion is the effort to include individuals based

on different perspectives and experiences, whereas equity “assumes the existences of avoidable

or remediable differences in the experiences of individuals. Often resulting from their inherent or

acquired characteristics.” (Hirsh, 2018, p.53) Diversity involves “changing long-standing

systems to provide a more equal experience for all people.” (Hirsh, 2018, p.54) These four

factors need to be kept in mind when developing library collections, hiring staff, and running an

organization. Ting states “Cultural diversity is not limited to race or ethnicity; it also includes

sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, language fluency, and much more.” (2017, p. 15)

While a library’s collection needs to be diverse the staff working at public libraries, and

all libraries for that matter need to be diverse as well. In 2006 a study, Diversity Counts, was

conducted by the ALA on gender, race, and age in the library and information science (LIS)

profession. The study found that librarians working at public, academic, and school libraries

were predominantly female and white. After twelve years the study was updated using data from

the past ten years, from the 2009-2010 American Community Survey analyses, and researchers

found that there was only a 1% change in the results from 2006. To help expand upon diversity

in the LIS profession ALA has developed a scholarship, called the Spectrum Scholarship

Program, geared toward recruiting future librarians of color. This is one of the steps the LIS

profession has taken to create more diversity for the future of the profession. (ALA, 2012)

Diversity is “the inclusion of all people regardless of differences, such as age, gender,

sexual orientation, religious belief, and ethnic, racial, or cultural background within a given

population.” (Larsen, 2017, p. 32) The author points out some interesting data about the United

States by stating, “Only 62 percent of the United States population identifies as white, and 12

percent are black, 6 percent are Asian, and 19 percent identify as Hispanic or as more than one

race.” (Larsen, 2017, p. 32) Diversity is beneficial for many reasons. It creates understanding and

appreciation for different types of people from various generations, cultures, and lifestyle

backgrounds. Larsen mentions that organizations, both public and private, who retain a more
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diverse staff and collection are more financially successful than those who do not. She states,

“Diversity is beneficial not only because it facilitates a greater ability to understand and provide

service to diverse communities of patrons, but because organizations that embrace diversity are

ultimately more successful.” (Larsen, 2017, p. 33)

In an interview published in the New York Times Walter Dean Myers discusses how he

felt at a young age due to the lack of diversity in the children’s books he read. He stated, “What I

wanted, needed really, was to become an integral and valued part of the mosaic that I saw around

me.” (2014, p. 1) He finally found literature that included black male main characters and said

“By humanizing the people who were like me, Baldwin’s story also humanized me. The story

gave me a permission that I didn’t know I needed, the permission to write about my own

landscape, my own map.” (Myers, 2014, p.2) By finding representations of characters in books

he could relate to Meyers decided to start writing so others like him could have more main

characters and instances to relate to themselves. He writes what he hopes young black males

attain from reading his work by stating, “They have been struck by the recognition of themselves

in the story, a validation of their existence as human beings, an acknowledgment of their value

by someone who understands who they are.” (Myers, 2014, p. 3)

Librarians are starting to get more involved with the curriculum which is taught in all

levels of school, including college. The director of the Child, Youth, and Family Studies

Program at Portland State University is changing his curriculum “with the goal that no more than

50% of readings are authored by the dominant U.S. culture.” (Pendell & Schroder, 2017, p.417)

This change is based off of librarians conducting a study about the diversity and inclusion of

library material for students. From an economic standpoint, researches Jeon and Menicucci
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found that “libraries with similar preferences are likely to lose from building a consortium

whereas libraries with diverse preferences are likely to gain from building a consortium.” (2017,

p. 128) This means that libraries with a more diverse and inclusive collection benefit because

they can exchange materials with other libraries who also have different diverse and inclusive

collections. Whereas two libraries with similar collections that are not diverse from each other,

will not benefit from exchanging materials.

Larsen suggestions some strategies to improve diversity and inclusion through hiring

practices, diversity training for staff, mentoring and support of upper management, and

assessment of the initiatives taken. Hiring should be conducted by more than one person and

ideally should be carried out by a diverse group of people within the organization. Also, job

postings for all library positions should contain traits and behaviors that promote diversity and

inclusion. Larsen also notes that it is important to evaluate candidates for their competencies

rather than just their credentials. For example, if a customer service position was posted and an

individual with a positive personality and ability to interact well with others applied, they would

probably be a good fit for the role. If the role required that the person also have a bachelor’s

degree that would limit the people who even apply for the position. The library could lose out on

great future employees if they are only concerned with education or experience requirements and

do not look for other valuable criteria. (Larsen, 2017)

Diversity training in an organization also needs to be continuous and not just sporadically

or when an issue arises. The training needs to occur at all library levels as well, which means

everyone from directors to shelvers should take it seriously. The University of Arizona hired

speakers from different racial, cultural, and educational backgrounds to discuss issues related to
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diversity with the library’s staff. Another strategy to improve diversity in library staff is

mentoring and professional development. It is vital for employees to have the option to attend

workshops and conferences within the LIS profession. “Employees who do not feel supported

and valued will not remain with an organization or even in the profession for long.” (Larsen,

2017, p.35) This is true for every employee but is especially true for minority employees who

feel that the organization does not value them.

A great way to start incorporating diversity and inclusion into any organization is by

conducting an assessment to get a baseline. A diversity assessment should be completed prior to

creating a diversity plan to identify key issues. “A diversity initiative cannot be successful if

library staff are not invested in its success or do not perceive the initiative as helpful.” Library

staff and the community are key components in making diversity in libraries a priority. (Larsen,

2017, p.35) Not only do the library staff need to find value and understand the benefits of being

diverse and inclusive, but the community does as well. ALA’s Office for Diversity, Literacy, and

Outreach Services promotes diversity through educational initiatives, training, and support for

LIS professionals.

More initiatives need to be taken at public libraries across the United States to increase

awareness about diversity and inclusion regarding a library’s collection and staff. For example,

some material, such as LGBT resources, should not be weeded solely based on circulation

statistics. Patrons may be using these items within the library, so a more in-depth analysis of the

material needs to be completed before it is discarded.

According to the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, in 2002 they received 3,150 books

for review and only 166 were written about African Americans, but only 69 were written by
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African American authors. In 2015 the Cooperative Children’s Book Center published statistics

of books depicting characters from diverse backgrounds. They found that 73% depicted white

characters, while only 7.6% featured African Americans, 3.3% Asian Pacific Americans, 2.4%

Latinx, and 0.9% American Indians/First Nations. The other 12.5% featured non-human

characters, such as animals or trucks. (Publishing Statistics on Children’s Books, 2018) A recent

article in the School Library Journal survey over one thousand school and public librarians

serving children and teens and found that 72 percent considered it a personal goal to create a

diverse collection. (Ishzuka, 2018) This is a step in the right directions for LIS professionals.

Librarians, Rochelle Arsenault and Penny Brown, discussed how important it is for

children to have exposure to diverse books in a library. They stated, “Books are sometimes the

only means by which children can experience a different way of life. A balance of multicultural

books allows students to recognize the uniqueness of each culture and that being different is

neither good nor bad--just different.” (Arsenault & Brown, 2007, p.20) When children read and

comprehend books concerning other cultures or religions they develop an appreciation for other

people who are not like them. “Poetry, short stories, current biographies reflecting a span of

cultures, and works of classic and nonclassic literature in languages other than English and by

writers other than American and European, give a rich dimension to the study of the world’s

people.” (Arsenault & Brown, 2007, p. 21) The authors give great examples of how stories can

relate to children and teens today. For example, they reference the book A Long Way Gone:

Memoirs of a Boy Soldier can be relatable to inner-city youths torn between joining a gang and

growing up in a low socioeconomic community. They also recommend that books about these

different cultures and ethnicities should not just be used for school projects. They should be
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displayed and promoted every day. This is key in continuing the conversation about diversity and

inclusion.

In conclusion, diversity and inclusion are topics that need to be valued by an organization

for things to change. By 2050 the United States will become a minority-majority nation. It is

projected that 54 percent of the population will be made up of minorities. This means

information organizations will be serving even more diverse patrons than before. (Subramaniam

et al., 2012) The culture regarding diversity and inclusion on all levels needs to change. Robin

Bradford, a collection development librarian at the Timberland Regional Library in Tumwater,

Washington, said it best by stating “Libraries tend to stick with what they have always done, and

it’s not that people are doing it out of malice, but if you do what you’ve always done, you get

what you’ve always gotten.” (Larsen, 2017, p.33) We as LIS professionals need to remember this

and do everything in our power to change our thinking and the culture of the library field.
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References

American Library Association. (2012). Diversity Counts. Retrieved from

Arsenault, R. & Brown, P. (2007). The Case for Inclusive Multicultural Collections in the School
Library. CSLA Journal, 31 (1), 20-21. Retrieved from Library & Information Science
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Hirsh, S. K. (2018). Information services today: An introduction. Lanham, MD:

Ishizuka, K. (2018). Can Diverse Books Save Us? School Library Journal, 64 (11), 28-33.
Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database.

Jeon, D.S., Menicucci, D. (2017). The Benefits of Diverse Preferences in Library Consortia. The
Journal of Industrial Economics, 65(1), 105-135. Retrieved from Business Source
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Larsen, S.E. (2017). Diversity in Public Libraries. Public Libraries, 56 (3), 32-35. Retrieved
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Myers, W. D. (2014). Where Are the People of Color in Children’s Books? The New York Times,
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people-of-color-in-childrens-books.html

Pendell, K., Schroeder, R. (2017). Librarians As Campus Partners. College & Research Libraries
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Subramaniam, M., Rodriguez-Mori, H., Jaeger, P.T., Hill, R.F. (2012). The Implications of a
Decade of Diversity-Related Doctoral Dissertations (200-2009) in LIS: Supporting
Inclusive Library Practices. Library Quarterly, 82 (3), 361-377. Retrieved from Library
& Information Science Source database.

Ting, R. (2017). Accessibility of Diverse Literature for Children in Libraries: A Literature

University of Wisconsin-Madison. (2018). Cooperative Children’s Book Center. Retrieved from