During the early twentieth century, librarianship and the role of public libraries experienced a shift in how they operated. Namely, they began to reach out to new user groups in various ways, such as the introduction of bookmobiles and children’s rooms (Pawley, 2018, p. 20). During this time period, there was also a shift in services provided and the collections that they developed. Librarians were working to assimilate European immigrants, and large urban libraries began to collect books in foreign languages (Pawley, 2018, p. 20). By 1913, 10% of the New York Public Library’s collection included books in twenty-five languages (Pawley, 2018, p. 20). Services that libraries provide immigrants today include: collection materials in languages other than English, literacy instruction, English-as-a-second-language courses, and partnerships with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to promote naturalization and citizenship materials (Burke, 2008, p. 164). This is important to note because—when libraries began this shift to meet immigrant needs—the minority groups they were serving were predominately serving European immigrants.
In the present day, immigrants to the United States are predominately from Latin America and Asia (Burke, 2008, p. 164). Since 1990, immigration rates have also increased considerably. U.S. Census Bureau data from 2000 revealed that more than 11% of the U.S. population is made up of immigrants, and by 2004 there were 34.2 million foreign-born residents, making up 12% of the population (Burke, 2008, p. 164). 2000 census data reveals that 20% of school-age children are immigrants (Burke, 2008, p. 164). These numbers keep on growing; as of 2017, the United States Census Bureau estimates that—out of a population of 325,719,178 people living in the United States—there are over forty-four million people who are foreign born, and a little over half of those are not United States citizens. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017) Data from the same year shows that Asia, Latin America, and Central America continue to be the largest regions for the United States’ foreign born population, particularly from Mexico, the Caribbean, India, and China. (US Census Bureau, 2017)
A library is a public place that should be welcoming and where diverse individuals—to include immigrants—can be treated like everyone else in their community (Walker & Polepeddi, 2013, 4). Furthermore, in his book, Small Libraries, Big Impact: How to Better Serve Your Community in the Digital Age, Yunfei Du briefly discusses how multicultural library collections—in addition to their intended purpose of helping immigrants feel a sense of belonging in their new communities and further encouraging lifelong learning—is beneficial in helping the pre-existing community accept the differences of their new neighbors and increase their knowledge of the world (2016, p. 63). This is why it is important for the public libraries to constantly be aware of changes in the demographics of the community, and that those changing demographics may indicate changes in what the library offers the community.
Building awareness of the changing demographics in communities, creating welcoming and inclusive environments in library spaces, building inclusive collections and resources, and ensuring the cultural competency of library staff serving diverse populations are initial destinations on a personal road map to serve multicultural populations. By doing so, we can be leaders in helping public libraries fulfill their mission of providing free and equal access to information for people of all languages and backgrounds (Walker & Polepeddi, 2013, p. 5).
Works Cited
Burke, S. K. (2008) “Use of public libraries by immigrants.” Reference and User Services Quarterly, 48(2), p. 164-174. DOI: 10.5860/rusq.48n2.164
Du, Y. (2016) Small libraries, big impact: How to better serve your community in the digital age. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited.
Pawley, C. (2018) “Libraries, communities, and information: Two centuries of experience.” In S. Hirsh (Ed.) Information Services Today (2nd Edition), pp. 14-25. Lanhamn, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
United States Census Bureau (2019) “About Foreign Born” Retrieved from: https://www.census.gov/topics/population/foreign-born/about.html#par_textimage
Walker, D. and Polepeddi, P. (2013) “Becoming a multicultural services library.” From Smallwood, C. and Becnel, K. (Eds) Library services for multicultural patrons: Strategies to encourage library use. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc. Pp. 3-12