INFO 289 ePortfolio – Dr. Patricia Franks
SJSU School of Information / Fall 2015
Patricia Ayame Thomson
Competency C
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
Introduction
Diversity is the cornerstone of American society. From the outset, the country was founded on the backs and hard work of immigrants. Throughout American history, immigrants from all over the world have settled in this country for various reasons. Consequently, the American population is comprised of a diverse blend of racial, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
The growing number of minorities comprising the population has altered the composition of the American population. In order to represent the reality of diversity in America today, it is imperative for the librarianship profession to reach out and serve as many ethnicities and socioeconomic groups as possible.
As information professionals, we must include library patrons from all walks of life—regardless of their income-level, race, cultural background, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, disability, age, social status, and/or personal perspective.
Diversity in Library Patrons/Clientele
Promoting equitable information provision, the American Library Association’s (ALA) Bill of Rights, Section V. states that: “A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.” In brief, people from all walks of life are welcomed, served, and included in the information organization. In order to promote and achieve an all-inclusive work environment, it is important for information professionals to fight racism, discrimination, stereotyping, and unilateral biases.
Diversity in Library Personnel
Diversity should also be reflected in the personnel of the information organization to better serve various ethnic groups and cultural backgrounds of the members in the community. Additionally, diversity in personnel is beneficial to the organization to bridge the language and cultural gaps. Employees consisting of a variety of different cultures and ethnic backgrounds can contribute fresh ideas, unique customs, and multifaceted perspectives to the information organization.
Foreign Language Collection
It is important for information organizations to have an international collection to serve the information needs of recent and long-time immigrants. Compared to personnel that are of a homogenous race, a group of multicultural information professionals with diverse cultural backgrounds are better suited to acquire and provide resources in their respective languages for the international collection. As a result, it is best practice for the information organization to hire personnel from a variety of nationalities and cultural backgrounds and nurture their professional development.
Socioeconomic Diversity
The topic of diversity in information organizations not only includes cultural but socioeconomic diversity as well. There may be socioeconomic reasons why a person may not visit the library such as low-income, disability, homelessness, illness, age, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status intermingled with an underlying fear of discrimination.
As it states in the first section of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Bill of Rights, “Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serve” (January 23, 1996). Consequently, as information professionals, it is our responsibility to provide equal access to information for everyone regardless of their cultural background and/or socioeconomic status.
Diversity Promoting Intellectual Freedom
The American Library Associations (ALA) states that: “Library materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” According to the above statement, diversity also applies to the inclusion of a variety of perspectives on a particular subject matter.
Three Assignments as Evidence for Competency C
I respectfully present three assignments as evidence to fulfill my competency for Competency C.
First Artifact
Defining Immigrant Practice and Social Inclusion
LIBR 275 – Library Services for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Communities
The first artifact is from a course at the San Jose State University, School of Library and Information Science called LIBR 275 –Libraries in Racially and Ethnically and Diverse Communities. I selected this assignment to include for Competency C because it addresses social inclusion and assimilation process of immigrants.
The assignment is based on Caidi and Allard’s (2005) article titled, “Social Inclusion of Newcomers to Canada: An information Problem.” The article examines the information-seeking behavior of Canadian immigrants, and based on the results promotes various library services to aid in their assimilation into mainstream society.
The article explains that social inclusion is an information problem and argues that the degree of acculturation is directly related to the amount of information the immigrant receives during their transition to the new country. Most importantly, the article claims that social inclusion depends on each country’s positive or negative perspective towards the immigrants. Caidi and Allard’s (2005) article advocates viewing immigrants as potential productive members of society.
Second Artifact
Selecting Multicultural Children’s Literature
LIBR 275 – Library Services for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Communities
The second artifact presented as evidence for Competency C is an assignment from the course LIBR 275 – Library Services for Racially and Ethnic Diverse Communities at the San Jose State University, the School of Library and Information Service program. The assignment is based on Junko Yokota’s (1993) article, “Issues in Selecting Multicultural Children’s Literature,” which was originally published in the Language Arts magazine. For the assignment, I had to critique her scholarly writing and contemplate the many salient points made in the article.
By examining the multifaceted aspects of multicultural literature, Yokota (1993) lists the many benefits of incorporating multicultural children’s literature in the library, school curriculum, recommended booklists, and in the classrooms.
Most importantly, the article warns against the pitfall of merely filling a quantitative quota to represent the various ethnicities. Yokota (1993) suggests that information professionals should go one step further than the superficial and stereotypical understanding of multicultural literature. The article’s criteria for the selection of multicultural materials are as follows: “Rich in Cultural Details, Authentic Dialogue and Relationships and In-depth Treatment of Cultural Issues” (p. 160). Authenticity, cultural sensitivity, and depth of understanding about various ethnic groups are a critical part of making the multicultural collection valuable and accessible to all patrons.
Finally, Yokota’s (1993) article strongly recommends including multicultural children’s literature that compare the similarities as well as the differences between the cultures and ethnic groups. For example, children who see themselves represented in books and library displays give them a sense of pride, belonging, and improved self-esteem. I believe the above demonstrates my competency for Competency C based on my knowledge about the many benefits of diversity in multicultural literature.
Third Artifact
Age Diversity
LIBR 204 – Information Organization and Management
Information professionals provide library services to people not only from various ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, but diversity also applies to age as well. From babies to the elderly, information organizations provide library materials, services, programs, and outreach to people of all ages in the community.
This artifact was written for the course, LIBR 204—Information Organization and Management for the San Jose State University, School of Library and Information Science program. The assignment is a strategic plan that targets outreach to the elderly members of the community who do not visit the library.
In the American Library Association’s (ALA) Guidelines for Library and Information Services to Older Adults, Principle #1 recommends that information professionals should “Acquire current data about the older population and incorporate it into planning and budgeting” (2008). In the assignment, the strategic plan consists of a goal, four objectives, budget, and evaluation. Along with providing library services to the elderly inside library walls, I learned that it is imperative for information organizations to reach out to the seniors in the community who are not current library users.
Conclusion: What I Learned about Diversity
Diversity is a multifaceted term. Most importantly, I learned that diversity means to appreciate the similarities and differences in others. Information organizations have an all-inclusive attitude towards serving people from all walks of life. For example, the diversity in population includes various ethnic and cultural groups, socioeconomic levels, ages, genders, disabilities, sexual orientations, and personal perspectives. This all-inclusive attitude teaches tolerance, acceptance, and compassion about others who are not like ourselves.
In conclusion, diversity involves a variety of information resources and contributions from all over the world. I believe diversity in library services and collections are beneficial to everyone. In the future, I will be able to incorporate and apply the concept of diversity at any information organization.
Reference:
Caidi, N. & Allard, D. (2005). Social inclusion of newcomers to Canada: An information problem? Library & Information Science Research, 27(3), pp. 302 – 324.
Yokota, J. (1993). Issues in selecting multicultural children’s literature. Language Arts, 70(3), pp. 156-167
American Library Association, Guideline of Library and Information Services to Older Adults. http://www.ala.org/rusa/resources/guidelines/libraryservices