A New Responsibility: Diversity in Library Collections

Library missions and organizational policies often include buzzwords such as “diversity” and “serving diverse populations”. Yet, libraries are still grappling at the idea of incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion into actions. Access to diverse voices and representation of diverse authors and stories in collections, amongst others, are still missing in libraries. However, the changing demographics of the country are challenging the future of libraries. This is especially true with library collections in which there is a lack of representation of library users in acquired resources and materials. Traditionally, acquisitions of library materials focuses on factors that include budget, content, and access. These are evident in the systematic process of collection management from selection to evaluation. The current state of library collections are not reflections of our users but rather, representations of our past institutional policies. Past policies that does not incorporate diverse library collections. So, how do we diversify library collections? Why do we want to incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion? How do we move from buzzwords to actions?