“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
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