PLA Home Page About PLAOrganizationConferences, Events, and Online LearningCommittee Work
Publications and ReportsProjectsResourcesMembers OnlyAwardsNews

preschool literacy initiative

public librarian recruitment

certification

PLA/LAMA/ASCLA Certified Public Library Administrator (CPLA) Program Core Course

Course Name

Serving Diverse Populations

General Desciption

A 2 ½ day course that underscores the value of, and provides tools for, serving a broad spectrum of a library’s customer base. Included are techniques for gathering knowledge about the cultural diversity of a community, discovering various cultural perceptions of the role of libraries and education, building and adapting effective programs and services, and recruiting and retaining a culturally diverse workforce and library board of trustees.

Components

  1. Value of serving all segments of a library’s community
  2. Demographic tools and survey methods that create a more accurate picture of the cultural nature of a library’s customer base
  3. Perceptions of the role of libraries and education in various ethnic cultures
  4. Techniques for building or adapting library services to reach a greater number of culturally diverse customers
  5. Methods for recruiting and retaining a culturally diverse workforce and library board of trustees

Learning Objectives

Participants will:

  1. Have a heightened sense that all segments of a library’s community have a right and a need for the valuable services libraries deliver
  2. Know how to develop an accurate demographic picture of the cultural and ethnic makeup of their communities
  3. Be aware that the library and its role differ from culture to culture
  4. Acquire techniques to create or adapt library programs, services and collections so that people in 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. Understand 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. Know both traditional and non-traditional sources and techniques for recruiting library staff and trustees

Suggested Methods

  • Presentations by library administrators of trustees whose libraries successfully serve diverse populations and/or have recruited culturally diverse staff members and boards
  • Presentations by active users of libraries who represent cultural diversity
  • Videos, journal articles, and other representations of successful programs that include a broader spectrum of a library’s community
  • Exposure to demographic and survey tools
  • Exposure to recruitment tools and techniques that actively expand the pool of potential candidates for library staff and trustee positions
  • Group projects during the course using case studies in serving diverse populations and/or diversifying library staff and boards

Evaluations

  • The presenter(s) will evaluate the participant’s overall work and participation in the course session
  • The presenter(s) and the class will evaluate the various group projects as described in Method #6
  • The presenter(s) will evaluate the participant’s familiarity with the materials and methods which are of value in serving diverse populations
  • The presenter(s) will give a pass/fail grade upon completion of the course

Key Sources

Alire, Camila and Orlando Archibeque. Serving Latino Communities: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians. Neal Schuman, 1998.

California State Library Task Force on Serving Spanish-Speaking Communities. Adelante: Recommendations for Effective Library Service to the Spanish-Speaking. California State Library, Library Development Services, 1994.

Collins, Margaret J.; Flyn, Jeanne; Kelley, H. Neil. Libraries Reaching Out to Illinois Diverse Populations. Illinois Libraries, v 75 (Fall 1993) p. 273–340.

Convocation on Providing Public LIbrary Service to California’s 21st Century Population. California State Library, Library Development Services, 1997.

Differences Make Us Stronger: Diversity in the Library. [Videotape] ALA, 1995.

Evans, G. Edward. Needs Analysis and Collection Development Policies for Culturally Diverse Populations. Collection Building, v 11, no. 4, (1992) p. 16–27.

Harmony in Diversity: Recommendations for Effective Library Service to Asian Language Speakers. California State Library, 1998.

Neely, Teresa Y. Using Subject Terminology and Classification to Provide Effective Reference Service to Diverse Populations. Colorado Libraries, V. 21 (Summer 1995), p. 22–26.

Ottensmann, John R., Gnat, Raymond E., Gleeson, Michael E. Similarities in Circulation Patters Among Public Library Branches Serving Diverse Populations. The Library Quarterly, V. 65 (January 1995), p. 89–118.

Quezada, Shelley. Mainstreaming Library Services to Multicultural Populations: The Evolving Tapestry. Wilson Library Bulletin, v 66, no 6, (February 1992) p. 28–29, 120.

Tandler, Adriana Acauan. Serving Diverse Populations in Queens— the New Americans Program. Reference Services Review, v 26, no 2, (Summer 1992) p. 63–65.

Trujillo, Roberto G. Services to Diverse Populations. ALA, 1989.

Yeh, Phoebe. Multiculturalism in Children’s and Young Adult Services. Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, v 6, no 2, (Winter 1993) p. 157–60, 163–68, 175–80.