COMPETENCY C: DEI & LIBRARIES

“They say I gotta learn, but nobody’s here to teach me
If they can’t understand it, how can they reach me?
I guess they can’t, I guess they won’t
I guess they front, that’s why I know my life is out of luck, fool,”

Coolio, Gangsta’s Paradise

Introduction
To include all members of society in an information exchange process that has become increasingly rapid and arguably overwhelming, we must first consider those who are most vulnerable and struggle to access those that others take for granted. The information available for “easy” access is only simple to navigate for the abled and those typically well-served members of society. Internet deserts, lack of accessibility features, unconscious bias, and assumptive or lazy web design all contribute to the struggles that certain subgroups of our society face. This is why the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) concept is vital and important. Accessible design benefits everyone and includes keeping diverse options and perspectives in mind, and this concept is crucial to a sense of equity in finding information. If the playing field cannot be leveled for vulnerable groups (such as the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities and their overlap) then measured progress will not be made.

Disabled Users and Coping Mechanisms
One of the groups that suffers the most from missing accessibility features is the blind and visually impaired (BVI) community. Amazingly, this distinct group of information seekers finds their information primarily by accessing social media, particularly YouTube (Seo and Jung, 2020). This information is typically shared and curated for other BVI individuals. Many abled and allistic people are surprised to find that those who are disabled make use of accessibility features like screen readers, such as JAWS, to access comments on social media and respond in kind.

The unfortunate outcome of this overall lack of access to the internet at large, however, is that many disabled individuals are forced to invent coping mechanisms to access information online at all (Xie et al., 2021). These users ultimately don’t even realize they are missing out on vital data and navigational cues; a large percentage of the time this perceived ease of use is taken for granted by the sighted (Whitney and Kolar, 2020). This phenomenon went largely unstudied in a qualitative sense until after the COVID-19 pandemic and has still been primarily studied by only a handful of researchers (Xie et al., 2021).

BIPOC and other Underserved Populations
Because people of color tend to earn less, many are disproportionately more likely to suffer from devastating disabilities and are excluded from many activities that would otherwise be considered commonplace for the majority of the population, their information-seeking behaviors differ from those of the rest of the population. Many underserved community members either do not feel comfortable entering libraries or cannot attend in the capacities others do without question (Gibson and Hassell, 2023). More than half of Medicaid recipients are people of color and may have a disability that prevents them from entering or staying inside a public library (Medicaid, 2020).

Ultimately, this means for those who do not fit into the healthy white majority libraries and other educational resources are beyond access or require much effort to access. Libraries must learn to become poverty-informed and trauma-informed. While this educational awareness on the part of public and academic libraries is increasing, the current level hasn’t reached the tipping point necessary to make effective change.

Conclusion
While striving to provide DEI initiatives in libraries can seem daunting, difficult, and frustrating, many researchers are attempting to bridge the gap. Although many people of color and disabled users are unable to use the library as the majority of white non-disabled individuals are, there is a continual effort to improve this outcome and level the playing field.

Artifacts and Evidence
Artifact 1
Assignment:

Course: INFO 287 Digital Accessibility
Description: 
This document reviews the fundamentals of digital accessibility, particularly for the underserved or underrepresented in libraries. This artifact references many sources for evidence of the difficulties that BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled information seekers and library users face. This project for a one-unit accessibility class also referred to access for those who are neurodivergent, such as autistic or mentally ill information seekers. The takeaway of this document is that access for the underserved is vital to level the playing field of unequal access, particularly in the United States. Every user of every library deserves to have the same resources and access as every other user. We cannot as a society expect to make lasting progress otherwise. Diversity, equity, and inclusion as a concept and trauma-informed librarianship are vital to a healthy library system. While this document does not cover accessibility in as much detail as my earlier work for INFO 200, it is still a strong and evidence-rich artifact that succinctly sums up the overall aims and goals of this one-unit accessibility class.

Artifact 2
Assignment:

Course: INFO 200 Information Communities
Description: 
I completed this assignment early in my MLIS career and created this blog post as a part of a series, with the ultimate goal of producing a scholarly research paper about the overall struggles of the blind and visually impaired (BVI) community. Post-COVID-19 pandemic, there is much evidence, both quantitative and qualitative, to indicate that the blind and visually impaired face significant hurdles to accessing information, whether it be about topics outside of their condition or within it. Social, economic, and health disparities and inequalities persist, and most evidence of these struggles is relatively new. This post focuses on the international community outside of the United States and how they struggle to find information as disabled or impoverished people. This assignment proves that unequal access is not just an issue for the United States, but an international struggle as well. Many of the international struggles listed would be more easily solved with increased funds available, particularly for children. Outside or inside of the United States, this struggle for easy access to information impacts everyone worldwide.

Artifact 3
Assignment:

Course: INFO 210 Reference and Information Services
Description:
This reference discussion refers to information literacy and how various groups of users achieve it. Inclusive pedagogy is essential to bridge the gap between the underserved and the rest of the population because all voices should be heard and all people should have equal access to vital information, particularly the underaged. This document only mentions one small aspect of research and learning capabilities for the underserved, but it’s clear between this artifact and the others that giving equal access to all is a vital part of leveling the playing field for teaching and learning worldwide. While much of this discussion was speculative and we were encouraged to give our opinions in a short and succinct series of paragraphs, it also provides a wealth of statistical research for others to draw on. Each student must be treated as an individual to ensure that every child and adult succeeds at their educational goals.

References

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (2020). Race and ethnicity of the national Medicaid and CHIP population in 2020. https://www.medicaid.gov

Gibson, A. N., & Hughes-Hassell, S. (2023). “Maybe she’s just strict to everybody”: Race, belonging, and surveillance in the library. The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy, 93(3), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1086/725068

Seo, W., & Jung, H. (2021). Understanding the community of blind or visually impaired vloggers on YouTube. Universal Access in the Information Society, 20(1), 31–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-019-00706-6

Whitney, G., & Kolar, I. (2020). Am I missing something? Experiences of using social media by blind and partially sighted users. Universal Access in the Information Society, 19(3), 461–469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-019-00648-z

Xie, I., Babu, R., Lee, T. H., Wang, S., & Lee, H. S. (2021). Coping tactics of blind and visually impaired users: Responding to help-seeking situations in the digital library environment. Information Processing & Management, 58(5), Article 102612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2021.102612