Serving Diverse Communities

Serving Diverse Communities

Elective

Given the following resources are available to the candidate:

  • Library’s vision, mission, core values, and strategic plan. Access to demographic data for the community served.
  • Access to data on current library programs, services, initiatives, and facilities.
  • Data on staff and board recruitment, selection, hiring, training & development, management and promotion.

The candidate:

  • Understands the demographics trends of the community served.
  • Assesses the degree to which services and programs meet the diverse needs of current and future populations.
  • Develops a plan to enhance access to library services, programs, library spaces, collections and technologies by diverse populations.
  • Develops a plan to market library services to diverse members of the community (see Marketing).
  • Develops a plan to enhance staff and board diversity.
  • Evaluates how well the library is meeting the needs of diverse populations (serving, employing, etc.).

The criteria to judge the adequacy of the performances are:

  • Number and type of diverse populations served.
  • Programs, services, resources, and facilities are meeting the needs of the community’s diverse populations.
  • Management systems support recruitment and retention of a culturally diverse staff and board.
  • Awareness of and ability to serve emerging diverse populations in the community.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Has a heightened sense that all segments of a library’s community have a right and a need for the valuable services libraries deliver.
  2. Has the ability to develop an accurate demographic picture of cultural and ethnic makeup of their communities.
  3. Is aware of how the role of the library differs from culture to culture.
  4. Acquires techniques to create or adapts library programs, services, facilities, and collections so that people of various cultures find those programs and services valuable to them, and so that the library is a more useful and welcoming place for them.
  5. Understands the importance of having a diverse workforce and governing structure for the library – to not only create a more welcoming atmosphere for customers, but also to provide a richer internal information and decision-making environment among the staff.
  6. Knows both traditional and non-traditional sources and techniques for recruiting library staff and trustees.

Revised April 2016

© American Library Association. All rights reserved.