University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Spanish-speakers preferred: How libraries can make their workforce better reflect their communities

Wakelee, Andrew; Thompson, Kim M.

Content Files
ALISEACP2022_Wakelee.pdf

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117963

Description

Title
Spanish-speakers preferred: How libraries can make their workforce better reflect their communities
Author(s)
  • Wakelee, Andrew
  • Thompson, Kim M.
Issue Date
2022-10
Keyword(s)
  • Inclusion
  • US job ads
  • Hispanic-serving institutions
  • Spanish language
  • Critical librarianship
  • Social justice
  • Community engagement
  • Information seeking
Abstract
While Spanish is the most spoken non-English language in the United States (US), Spanish-speakers face barriers to information access that may continue to impede their inclusion and careers in libraries. Despite a stated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, the library profession continues to greatly underrepresent Spanish speakers in its collections and workforce. By looking at Social Identity Theory and the Theory of Information Poverty, we propose ways for libraries to better meet the needs of Spanish-speakers and to better include them in their workforce. This paper details an overview of the theoretical framework, provides a literature review on the Spanish-speaking community's relationship to libraries, analyzes US job ads data for inclusive wording towards Spanish-speaking applicants, and provides practical steps that libraries can take to make their workforces and outreach programs more inclusive.
Series/Report Name or Number
Proceedings of the ALISE Annual Conference, 2022
Type of Resource
text
Genre of Resource
Conference Paper / Presentation
Language
eng
Handle URL
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117963
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21900/j.alise.2022.1016
Copyright and License Information
  • Copyright 2022 Andrew Wakelee, Kim M. Thompson
  • This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

Owning Collections

Proceedings of the ALISE Annual Conference: ALISE 2022 PRIMARY
Go Back and Get It: From One Narrative to Many