The Evanston Public Library announced this week that it will be among the first libraries in the region to ask patrons for voluntary information about race, ethnicity and language and use that information to improve how it serves everyone in the Evanston community.
Beginning Monday, March 7, Library staff issuing or renewing library cards will ask patrons about the race or ethnicity with which they identify and the preferred language spoken at home. This information will be compared against other available demographic information from the Census and other sources to understand whether the Library is improving its outreach to Black, Latinx and other underrepresented residents.
“It’s important to have that demographic information so that we can ensure that the Evanston Public Library is providing equitable access to residents,” said Mireya Dominguez, member of EPL’s Racial Equity Taskforce. “My family takes advantage of the events and materials offered in Spanish, and it may be that there are other populations we’re missing because we don’t have this data. My hope is that we would identify other opportunities for growth and ways we can provide further support to everyone in the community.”
The EPL said the initiative to gather voluntary information from patrons will support and enhance its larger equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives. In 2018, the Library commissioned an equity, diversity and inclusion study to take a formal look at equity across the Library’s assets, services and partnerships and take new approaches to meeting the needs of our underserved residents.
Since then, the Library has issued an apology for its shortcomings in creating an equitable space, built a racial equity taskforce, eliminated overdue fines, adopted a trans employee policy and founded a collection advisory committee of Black Evanstonians to improve how it purchases materials. In addition, staff have participated in hundreds of hours of equity and inclusion training, and the new Robert Crown branch serves a diverse neighborhood with bilingual staff, programming and collection materials.
“The Evanston Public Library has reimagined all its activities through an equity lens, and we believe those efforts have made a difference in ensuring that underrepresented people are being served,” said Library Executive Director Karen Danczak Lyons. “But to truly know beyond anecdotes whether all our efforts are making a measurable impact, it is helpful to have something to measure. We hope our patrons will partner with us on this initiative by providing information that can really tell us whether we are fulfilling our mission of providing equitable access.”
This additional information offered by patrons will give Library staff a useful measurement for understanding what gaps still exist in its equity work and how the Library is improving over time.
Participation is optional
Responses will be completely voluntary, and patrons who choose not to reply will still be issued a library card and will not be denied access to any services.
“As an Afro Indigenous person (African American and Native American of the Muscogee Creek Nation), I get suspicious when I am asked to provide information about my race, my ethnicity and what languages I speak. I immediately recall all of the ways historically such data has been misused to oppress, cheat and hurt people of color and others,” said Joyce Miller-Bean, member of the Library’s Racial Equity Taskforce. “However, I also realize that if an organization such as the Evanston Public Library truly wants to increase diversity in its collections and programs, it must have a way of learning whether the library is reaching folks within these diverse groups, and asking about the race, ethnicity and language of those using the library is one way to accomplish this very important goal. This is why as a BIPOC individual and an Evanstonian who loves the books, ideas, activities and programs that the EPL provides, and who wants to see these things expand with greater diversity, I support and encourage the gathering of this information.”
The voluntary information patrons provide will be used in aggregate to understand the library’s overall progress. It will not be individually tied to the materials patrons check out from the library, and it will not be shared outside of the Library.
For more information about the Evanston Public Library’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion efforts, visit www.epl.org/essentials/board-of-trustees/edi-feedback.
Source: Evanston Public Library