Diversity and Intercultural Issues in Library and Information Science (LIS) Education - Bonus Review

“The need for LIS education to improve their curriculum through inclusion of diverse issues is a key to developing a more responsive library professional that will serve their community better and at the same time attract students from different cultural backgrounds to library and information science profession.” (453)

It is well recognized that society is becoming more and more diverse.  However, that diversity isn’t being reflected in Library and Information Science education.  Ismail Abdullahi introduces four characteristics that a culturally responsive library and information science teacher will possess.  First, the culturally responsive LIS teacher recognizes that there is more than one way to perceive reality, there can and will be multiple viewpoints on a single circumstance or situation.  Second, this teacher sees diversity as a benefit; they don’t see differences as something that detracts or a problem that needs to be overcome.  Third, this teacher feels that not only are they capable of working towards making LIS education more culturally responsive, but that it is their responsibility to do so.  Finally, this teacher will be able to use their knowledge of their students’ lives in order to build on what the students already know and expand their horizons.

The first characteristic, or theme, is that there is more than one way to perceive reality.  Everybody’s reality is different because reality is influenced by social class, race/ethnicity and language.  In other words, a migrant farm worker who speaks primarily Spanish is going see the world through a different lens than a white stockbroker who primarily speaks English.  Additionally, those two people are going to see the world differently than a white individual who works at McDonald’s.  Understanding that everybody has a slightly different reality based on their background is known as sociocultural consciousness.  A library professional that has sociocultural consciousness is better able to cross sociocultural boundaries and assist patrons from a variety of perspectives which is increasingly important in a quickly diversifying society.  In addition to recognizing and respecting that different people have different realities this teacher must also be aware that social location differences are anything but neutral.   Access to power is determined by largely somebody’s social class, race/ethnicity and language.  Why else would it take over two hundred years to elect a black individual to the highest office in the United States?  This access to power is institutionally limited in that the institutions of this country, including schools, the welfare system and, yes, libraries are structured to restrict the socioeconomic advancement of minorities in the name of meritocracy.  If there is a teacher in LIS education who teaches how institutions discriminate, the students of that educator are going to eventually change the policies and such in libraries that discriminate.  This is a completely positive goal to have because it will only be then when libraries are truly able to provide equal access to information for all.

A teacher in LIS education must also see students of theirs whom differ from the dominant culture as a positive thing.  These students are able to use their different experiences and knowledge to add to the learning experience of everybody else, including the teacher.  This implies that it is better to have a diverse classroom than it is to have a homogeneous one.   If there are a variety of backgrounds and experiences learning together there is far more that is learned, and not just about the subject material of the class.  This will inevitably produce better librarians, librarians who are better able to communicate and assist their patrons regardless of their particular experiences and background.

While discussed a little earlier, it’s important to reiterate the need for agents of change.  A LIS educator needs to help instill in students the drive and skills necessary to facilitate the advancement of libraries in a way that benefits all.  Currently libraries tend to reproduce inequalities.  But students who see that society and libraries are interconnected will be aware of that tendency in libraries and work to change it.  Institutional practices are built and sustained by people and therefore reflect the views and beliefs of people, particularly of the dominant group.  It is up to people to change these practices and that’s only going to happen when librarians and other information professionals recognize that libraries inherently are political institutions.  These librarians must see the library as a vehicle for change and a promoter of diversity.  These librarians must believe that that social transformation can happen at libraries and they need to know that while failures will occur, those failures shouldn’t stop the struggle.

Finally, LIS educators must use their students own experiences and knowledge as vehicles to further knowledge.  This teacher will create a classroom where all students are encouraged to learn, where all students are given a chance to construct knowledge that will help them to better understand the world.  Perhaps this will be done with candid classroom discussion, where all ideas and topics are welcome and discussed.  Perhaps this will be done with creating projects that have a personal significance to students.  Obviously, the role of the socioculturally conscious LIS educator is very complex.  However, without teachers such as that described in LIS education the library will likely continue to be a stagnant institution that promotes diversity on one hand but structurally hinders it on the other.

Sources:

Abdullahi, I. (2007). Diversity and intercultural issues in library and information science (LIS) education. New Library World, 108(9/10), 453-459.

The Bookmark: Asian Cultural Council

The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is an organization that supports cultural exchange between the countries within Asian and between the United States and Asia.  The organization’s headquarters is in New York City, but they also have offices in Hong Kong, Manila, Taipei and Tokyo.  Nearly 6000 artists from across Asia have been supported by the ACC since its creation in 1963.  The ACC supports projects across an extensive spectrum of performing and visual arts including, but not limited to, archeology, arts criticism, dance, music and theater.  In addition to supporting performing and visual arts, the ACC also supports educational and cultural institutions that are doing work that is considered particularly important to the cultural exchange between Asia and the United States.

The Bookmark: The Pew Hispanic Center

As the Hispanic population in the United States gets larger and larger, their impact on our way of life and our future as a nation will become more pronounced.  The Pew Hispanic Center, a nonpartisan research organization, conducts research on a variety of topics related to the Hispanic populations including their demographics and their views on social policy.  Additionally, the Pew Hispanic Center studies changes in their socio-economic status and compares their educational background with other ethnic groups.  The Hispanic Center also studies the immigration patterns of Hispanic sub-groups and remittances that Hispanic Americans send home to their families.  Finally, in addition to all the research that this institution does, they publish their results in a way that is easily understood by most people. 

"The Case for Multiculturalism"

 “The challenge of cultural diversity is that in each generation we have to update our knowledge of the diversity within our society, incorporating the knowledge of what we find into collection development and service provision.” (9)

The makeup of the United States is ever changing.  At the time that DuMont, Buttlar and Caynon published their book Multiculturalism in Libraries in 1994, it was projected that minorities would make up 25 percent of the population by 2004.  According to the 2000 census, 75.1 percent of respondents said that they self-identify as white.  That means that almost 25 percent of Americans identified themselves as a different race (African American, Asian, Hispanic, etc) or as multiethnic.  The demographic population of the United States is rapidly changing and libraries must stay current with their communities.

In the past, libraries have to some extent tried to offer services to their communities to fit the demographic needs of that community.  Libraries often try to develop collections in the language of the community they serve (for example providing materials in Spanish in communities where Spanish is widely spoken).  One way in which public libraries everywhere excel is in regards to age-related subcultures.  Public libraries all recognize the different needs of children, youth and adults.  These efforts are to be applauded. 

One way that libraries are struggling with the increasing diversification of the United States and, consequently, their communities is in staffing.  Due to the highly interactive nature of librarianship and the constant communication between librarians and patrons, it is necessary that librarians are able to understand their patrons.  The first step of this is for librarians to be able to linguistically understand their patrons.  Even if a library serving a Hispanic community doesn’t have a native Spanish speaker, have somebody on staff be willing to learn some Spanish so that somebody there can better assist a patron who doesn’t necessarily speak English.  But this goes beyond linguistics.  People have different points of view that are often influenced by their socio-economic status in society, by their age, and by their race.  If a library is unable to understand these different points of view, that library is functionally unable to adequately serve their community.

Another way that libraries are struggling is in terms of services offered and service strategies.  Different populations have different information needs.  While a service that was provided for one population was really beneficial, that service provided to another population may not be useful at all.  There needs to be flexibility not only in the different services provided, but in how those services are provided over time as well.  It is vital that services and programs are regularly evaluated so that all populations in the community, even those who are not “traditional” users, benefit. 

In short, it is imperative that libraries recognize that their communities are culturally diverse and are proactive at adapting to that cultural diversity.  It must be recognized that while in the past society was viewed as homogonous and it was believed that there was a majority world view; it is no longer desirable or effective to continue to believe in those things.  The synergy approach recognizes that society has many facets, many population groups, and many different perspectives.  It recognizes that human diversity is a vital resource.  Diversity is not only important to the world at large, but it is important to library service as well.  An old adage says that “great minds think alike,” but it has been proven over and over again that great minds think very differently.  Society and libraries must not only accept cultural diversity, but they must value it and embrace it. 

Sources:

DuMont, R., Buttlar, L., & Caynon, W. (1994). Multiculturalism in libraries. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

U.S. Census Bureau (2000). Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000.  Retrieved from http://censtats.census.gov/data/US/01000.pdf