The American Library Association defines diversity as, "the sum of the ways that people are both alike and different" and includes both the visible and invisible aspects that make up a person's or culture's identity (American Library Association, n.d.). With over 7,000 languages in existence today and more than 1.5 billion people learning a language globally (Kent State University, n.d.), considering diversity in library-based language programs and services is incredibly important. Not only must the wide range of languages be taken into account, the culture(s) a learner was raised in and the culture(s) of the language they are learning also need to be considered. Language is just one aspect of identity, and language and worldviews are inherently intertwined.

When considering language services in the library, it is helpful to look at the language statistics for the library's service area. Canada, for example, reports that 98% of Canadians knew either English or French and that almost 30% of the population knew a non-official language. Additionally, they reported that key demographic indicators, such as age and gender, differed among the people who spoke those languages (Government of Canada, 2025). In the United States, Mejía reports that multilinguals are typically born outside the U.S. and have high levels of education. Similarly to Canada, she also noted significant socioeconomic differences between monolinguals and bi- or multilinguals (Mejía, 2026). These differences can create significant barriers to the ability to obtain a wide variety of services.

For people without access to those services, they can become forced to learn a second or even third or fourth language, as Romig notes (2023). The necessity of such a practice exemplifies how language can be used as a form of power. When someone does not have access to their native language in general society, society shows that person or group of people that they are not worthy of being included. This can lead to pressure to stop teaching future generations a native language, potentially leading to eventual loss of the language and all the knowledge and cultural history that came with it (Romig, 2023). This practice also asserts linguicism, or the biased idea that one language, accent, or dialect is "better" than another. This bias can seep its way into our librarianship practice in unexpected ways.

It is essential to evaluate the way we use and interact with language in library services. This includes examining our services to see whose voices are missing from the collection and library, as well as our own use of language when describing other people and cultures. Collins (2018) summarizes this well, discussing how our language needs to be evaluated to identify areas of bias and take action to change the language used:

revealing what our language is doing, specifically with regard to the deployment of power and reproduction of oppression, is essential not only to identify how the way we use language stalls our transition to action with regard to diversity but also to ensure that true equity and disruption to systems of inequity become as naturalized within our institutional language as oppression is now (p. 50).

By evaluating the language we use, we can identify ways in which to challenge the power and oppression created in the library field generally and through the language used in our services. It is only when we take action to correct, at a systemic level, this power and oppression, that evaluating language becomes successful.