DIVERSITY IN THE LIBRARY WORKFORCE

Having a diverse workforce is good for a library. In the 21st century, it is beneficial for any organization or company to have employees who reflect the people they are serving. It is especially important for a library to have staff who can build a collection of library materials to meet the diverse information needs of its community and effectively serve all patrons. It is the responsibility of library management to ensure a diverse workforce and library collection, and to promote a process of inclusion that affects everything we do in a library.

Mark Maison, Director of Corporate Human Resources for OCLC, defined diversity and inclusion in a presentation he made to OCLC Members Council on February 9, 2004. he said, "Diversity is the mix of human dimensions that both link us together and distinguish us from one another. Inclusion is an active strategic process that understands, values and leverages human similarities and differences to accomplish a common goal." He also identified some lessons learned:

* Inclusion is a structured, systematic change process not a project

* Inclusion starts with building awareness and building relationships

* Inclusion is built on respect for each person

* Inclusion includes the majority

* Diversity without Br inclusion does not work

* Inclusion must further the mission

* We must weave inclusion into the way we do what we do every day.

It is not enough for management to give lip service to diversity and inclusion. It is not enough for a library director to say "I believe in diversity." It is important for a library's commitment to diversity to be stated in its formal written plans. For instance, the Worthington Libraries' mission statement includes "promoting equal access to information." Its vision statement speaks of the libraries "as a vital part of the diverse community they serve." The vision further states that Worthington Libraries "anticipate and respond to diverse patron needs..." We have identified seven core values, including Respect for Each Individual. This value is defined as, "In our actions and attitudes, we treat each other and our patrons as we would wish to be treated, recognizing the richness our diversity brings to our workforce." Some examples of what this looks like in our library are:

1. OUR POLICIES, FACILITIES, COLLECTIONS, PROGRAMS AIMD STAFF ALLOW US TO PROVIDE CONSISTENT SERVICE WHILE INCORPORATING THE DIFFERENT NEEDS OF EACH COMMUNITY AND EACH COMMUNITYMEMBER.

2. WE AGGRESSIVELY SEEK A DIVERSE WORKFORCE THROUGH OUR RECRUITING AND SELECTION PRACTICES.

3. WE STRIVE TO ACCOMMODATE DIFFERENCES IN WORK AND LEARNING STYLES WITHOUT LOWERING OUR WORK STANDARDS.

4. OUR PROCEDURES ARE FLEXIBLE ENOUGH TO RECOGNIZE DIFFERENT WAYS OF GEHING THE SAME RESULTS.

In our strategic plan under the staff strategic initiative, one objective is to "increase the diversity of staff to reflect the communities served." Actions to be taken to achieve this objective include: identify the makeup of the community to determine needs, conduct a skills inventory of the current staff, and recruit and train staff to meet the unmet needs.

While we haven't achieved what I would call model diversity or inclusion in either our workforce or our provision of service to patrons, at least this gives us something to shoot for. Our goal to achieve a diverse workforce is genuine and intentional. We recruit for a mix of ethnicity, race and gender that reflects the makeup of our community. We also strive for a range of age and educational backgrounds: our 33 professional librarians are graduates of 15 different library schools, and almost half are under age 40.

Of course, the real work starts when you actually begin to have a diverse workforce. Learning to respect our individual thoughts, ideas, work and learning styles, and variations on work ethic is challenging. Like achieving diversity, the process of inclusion must be deliberate, and therefore must be a commitment from library management. If a library staff from many different backgrounds is going to work together toward a common goal, they must understand and value each other's similarities and differences. Sensitivity training may be called for in order to break through some barriers. Building an environment of trust will be necessary before real interactive work can be achieved. This begins with people getting to know each other and appreciating what each person can contribute.

Sounds like a lot of work for an already overburdened library management? It's worth it! Our staff is working together to accomplish the objectives in our strategic plan, including one to "expand library patron base by creating services and programs for target groups not fully served, thereby meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse population," Actions to meet this objective include developing the collection of foreign language materials, and presenting special programs such as Spanish and signed Storytimes. Staff does not speak all of the languages in which we collect materials, so they have engaged library patrons as volunteers to help in selecting foreign language materials.