Diversity and Public Libraries

What will the public library’s role be in the future? Varying answers often become a point of contention not only to those outside the realm of library and information studies but to those within the profession. However, rather than turn this informal write-up into an endless dissertation on the future of public libraries, I’ll simply agree with those who believe that the future of a public library lies in its diversity.

Diversity, according to Merriam-Webster, is the condition of having or being composed of differing elements. By definition then, diversity is an integral part of the services we provide in our workplace, whether it is through content, programming, or outreach to various communities (at Capitol Hill, it includes bilingual customer service). Therefore, diversity is a major aspect in keeping our customers interested in what we do and engaged with what we provide, not only today but into the far future.

Valuing diversity in libraries is particularly important, especially when it comes to providing services to underserved populations. In fact, every year the American Library Association’s Office for Literacy and Outreach Services carries out a diversity and outreach fair in order to encourage information professionals and conference attendees to collaborate and share ideas and experiences from their diversity and outreach initiatives.

Diversity can be difficult for library systems and librarians to accept and/or implement because it requires change: a change in attitude, change in routine, in policies/procedures, and a change in customs in all aspects of library service, particularly when looking ahead to endeavors that reach new populations. At MLS, our quest to offer a diversity of services has resulted in upcoming changes to the Summer Reading program. The shift from paper to digital enrollment of participants and the ability to log reading hours online will allow the library system to reach repeat customers, as well as a whole new group of people who might not have before participated. Also, the addition of Almonte has allowed MLS to expand services to customers in an area that had previously been underserved.

The concept known as cultural competence is used by researchers when studying human subjects. Essentially, the concept refers to understanding the importance of social and cultural influences on the beliefs and behaviors of a patient, student, colleague or client in order to effectively carry out a study. Incorporating cultural competence can help us when working with the communities we serve. It can help us to “see” one another (i.e. colleague to colleague or employee to customer) in order to ultimately meet the needs of our communities and maintain a positive influence upon them. 

What are these needs, and how do we identify and meet them? This can be difficult, yet it is essential to come to know (both individually and collectively) our customers and assess their needs. We must also know our role in the community. As our communities change, we must maintain awareness of these changes in order to adapt. The examples given above are only a portion of what MLS has done to not only assess customers’ needs but also to reach new customers, thereby maintaining the library’s viability within the community.