RECOMMENDATION REPORT FOR

IMPLEMENTING DIVERSITY IN SAN ANTONIO

PUBLIC LIBRARY

Prepared for:
Ramiro Salazar, Library Director
San Antonio, Texas

Prepared by:
Amber Sliva, Technical Writer
Write It Out Freelance Company

March 31, 2020

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

Date: March 25, 2020

To: Ramiro Salazar, Library Director of San Antonio Public Library (SAPL)

From: Amber Sliva, Technical Writer at Write It Out Freelance Company

Subject: A Recommendation Report for incorporating more diversity into San Antonio Public
Library’s book collection and programs for children and teens

Dear Mr. Salazar,

I submit to you my report for my study, “Recommendation Report for Diversity in San Antonio
Public Library.” As described in our proposal, we completed the tasks that helped us identify
SAPL’s main issue regarding their patrons’ concerns.

My tasks included both primary and secondary research. My primary research included a
landscape content analysis for SAPL’s Facebook page. As for secondary research, I have
gathered data and information from case studies and articles and analyzed and synthesized this
data into this report.

The main findings are that SAPL doesn’t adequately advertise diverse programs or services on
their Facebook page. Most of the posts didn’t relate to the children and teen demographic as
well. In my secondary research, I conclude that the librarian population across the U.S.
misrepresents diversity in their numbers. Additionally, children’s librarians are less likely to be
given the opportunity for leadership and management training, which can lead to further
misrepresentation in the library. If children aren’t properly expose to diverse books, they can
adopt an apathetic attitude toward those who differ from themselves.

I recommend two courses of actions. One, to consider include diverse books in the library
throughout the year, and not just on heritage months. Also give librarians opportunities to seek
leadership and management training, which can help with optimizing book collections and
programs. And secondly, create a readathon on social media so children and teens can take part
in diverse reading.

I also recommend you to continue studying these issues and to consider the various benefits for
improving diverse collections and programs as relayed to you in this report.

I thank you kindly for your time and trust in me. I look forward to working with you and
continuing this study. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at
amber.sliva@yahoo.com.

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 Table of Contents
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................4

INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................5

RESEARCH METHODS ..............................................................................................................6

Task 1: Facebook Landscape Analysis ........................................................................................6

Task 2: Analyze the Population of Librarians in Public Libraries ..............................................7

Task 3: Determine the Effects of Diversity in Public Libraries ...................................................7

RESULTS .......................................................................................................................................8

Task 1: Facebook Landscape Analysis ........................................................................................8

Task 2: Analyze the Population of Librarians in Public Libraries ..............................................9

Task 3: Determine the Effects of Diversity in Public Libraries .................................................10

CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................11

RECOMMENDATION ...............................................................................................................12

REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................13

APPENDICES ..............................................................................................................................14

Appendix A: Facebook Landscape Analysis Data .....................................................................14

Appendix B: Facebook Landscape Analysis Data for Events ....................................................18

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 ABSTRACT

“Recommendation Report for Diversity in San Antonio Public Library”

Prepared by: Amber Sliva, Technical Writer at Write It Out Freelance Company

On March 15th, Ramiro Salazar, Library Director of San Antonio Public Library (SAPL),
approved a proposal by Amber Sliva, technical writer at Write It Out, to carry out a study on
integrating diversity into SAPL’s children’s and teen’s book collections and programs and to
report her findings. The author began by performing primary research on SAPL’s Facebook page
to better understand SAPL’s media content. Then, the author assessed children’s librarians’
involvement in public libraries as well as determine children’s reactions toward diversity in
books. SAPL’s Facebook page showed an abundance of posts geared towards SAPL’s events.
However, those event posts didn’t indicate diverse content. Diverse books have a positive effect
on children. According to my research, a study shows that diverse books can increase children’s
abilities to empathize with the perspective of the outgroup. With the issues of
underrepresentation in public libraries’ workforce, this can relate to the underrepresentation of
diverse books and programs for children and teens. I recommend SAPL to allow children’s
librarians to have management training opportunities to spread awareness of diversity in the
library and to consider hosting children and teen readathon events that offers diverse books to
read each week.

Keywords: children, teens, diversity, librarians, library, books, programs

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 INTRODUCTION

To determine the best course of action for San Antonio Public Library (SAPL), Ramiro Salazar,
Library Director, asked me to research ways to implement diversity into their children’s and
teens’ book collections and programs. Their goal is to have patrons feeling satisfied with their
book collections and programs for children and teens.

Currently, SAPL has received complaints from patrons about the lack of diverse books in
children’s and young adult books’ sections. In addition, they have received negative feedback
about their limited number of cultural programs for children and teens. SAPL offers multiple
programs and resources in both English and Spanish, which includes children’s story times, book
clubs, and summer events. To ensure patrons’ satisfaction, SAPL has created a project that aims
to represent all their patrons’ stories.

Therefore, Ramiro Salazar wanted to determine the best way to include diversity into their book
collections and services. Specifically, Mr. Salazar asked me to perform two main tasks. For the
better of the project, I decided on performing three tasks. These three tasks are:
• Determine how SAPL lacks diversity in their programs. I performed primary research to
complete this task, which entailed a content analysis on SAPL’s Facebook page.
• Analyze how the librarian population can affect diversity in the public library. This task I
added for the project. I performed secondary research to complete this task.
• Determine how lack of diversity can affect children and teens and how SAPL can
improve their book collections. I performed secondary research to complete this task.

I found that SAPL’s Facebook page lacks diverse posting for programs. Although event posts
take up nearly half of the data units analyzed, the majority of the event posts were focused on the
general patron population. If the librarian population is not diverse—this can be everything from
gender, race, ethnicity, etc.—it can greatly negatively impact how diversity is showcased in the
library. And if children’s and young adult librarians aren’t given the opportunity to take part in
leadership and management training, this can lead to misrepresentation within administration and
their involvement with children’s and teens’ services. Additionally, if SAPL were to continue
misrepresenting marginalized people in their book collections, children and teens are least likely
to develop empathy for those who differ from them.

I recommend, first, to start displaying diverse books throughout the year, and not just on national
celebrations. Give children’s and young adult librarians more opportunities for leadership and
management training. And secondly, start a reading program, specifically, a readathon, on social
media for children and teens that allows them to take part in diverse reading. Optionally, you can
include a reward system for those who take part in it.

In the following sections, I provide additional details about my research methods, the results
from my tasks, the conclusions from those results, and my recommendations.

5
 METHODS

To ensure San Antonio Public Library continues a healthy relationship with their patrons, I
examined three different topics regarding diversity in the public library. Because you requested
assistance with recognizing the problems in both the children and teen’s book collections and
their programs, I made sure to split my research tasks to account for this invocation.
To perform the analysis you requested, my project was broken into three tasks:
1. Facebook Landscape Analysis
2. Analyzing the Population of Librarians in Public Libraries
3. Determining the Effects of Diversity in Public Libraries

In the following section, I will discuss how I performed each task and explain the reasoning that
guided my research.

Task 1: Facebook Landscape Analysis

For my first task, I did a content landscape analysis on SAPL’s Facebook page where I analyzed
200 posts and categorized them into 262 units of data. I analyzed posts uploaded from November
2, 2019 to March 24, 2020. Seven categories were made based on the collected data from
SAPL’s Facebook page. These categories seven categories were:
A. Interaction with Followers
B. Educational information
C. Events
D. National Celebrations
E. Services
F. New Releases
G. Announcements

Out of these categories, I was able to conclude what type of posts SAPL posted most often, and
which posts were being neglected. I created charts based on my data that can be found in the
Appendix (LIST PAGE NUMBERS). After putting SAPL’s content into seven categories, I went
further and categorized the event posts. For event posts, I used categories that focus on diverse
material I found to be the most popular on SAPL’s Facebook page. These categories were:
A. Hispanic
B. Disabilities
C. African/African Americans
D. Children/Teens
E. Immigrants
F. Other (Book Fests, Pop Con, Book Clubs, Games, etc.)

Event posts categorized from A through E were either for that specific demographic, or events
that related to said category. For example, a Hispanic author discussing a new book release at a
book event. Out of the 262 units of data, event posts made up 115.

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Task 2: Analyze the Population of Librarians in Public Libraries

My research revealed that diversity in public libraries directly correlates to the diversity of the
workforce (Larsen). To present the understandings of this notion, I relied on a study that
addressed the children’s librarians’ population (Winston and Dunne). In this study, they sent out
a survey to 350 members of the Association for Library Services for Children (ALSC),
questioning them about what led them to their career choice.

Task 3: Determining the Effects of Diversity in Public Libraries

Diversity and inclusion have become the topic of discussion in public libraries across the nation.
American Library Association (AMA) describes library workers should learn to adopt equity,
diversity, and inclusion into their libraries (“Equity, Diversity, Inclusion”). Equity means
recognizing the problems of underrepresenting people, and diversity can be defined as
recognizing individual differences regarding race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status,
beliefs, religion, and physical abilities. And lastly, inclusion means treating everyone fair and
equal. AMA promotes the idea of libraries seeking out “alternative, small press, independent,
and self-published content” due to large publishers and producers’ being more inclined to not
representing diverse writers (“Equity, Diversity, Inclusion”).

Regarding this, I used a research study conducted by a professor named Loris Vezzali at the
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia to further expand this idea of how diversity in books
affect children. In Vezzali’s study using 34 children, he splits the children into two groups and
analyzes how the children react to prejudice. This study concludes that children’s attitudes are
shaped by the books they read.

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 RESULTS

This section will be dedicated to the results of my primary and secondary research for San
Antonio Public Library (SAPL). For each of the tasks I did, I present the most important data I
acquired.

Primary Research

Task 1: Facebook Landscape Analysis

There were seven recurring content posts found on their Facebook page which can be seen in
Figure 1. According to the 200 posts during this timeframe, SAPL seems to post updates about
events the most, at 43 percent of the overall data analyzed. Next, two categories, interaction with
followers and announcements came in second, with both tallying up to 17 percent. (See
Appendix A for more information on how I categorized these posts). Posts about SAPL’s
services came last, with totaling only 3 percent. Event posts alone make up almost one half of
their content feed, outnumbering educational information, national celebrations, services, new
releases, and interaction with followers combined, by 3 percent.
Figure 1: Facebook
Percentage of Posts for Each Category Landscape Analysis
Chart for San Antonio
Public Library.

G. 17% A. 17%
A. Interaction with Followers

B. Educational information
B. 5%
C. Events
F. 11%
D. National Celebrations
E. 3%
E. Services
D. 4%
C. 43% F. New Releases

G. Announcements

In figure 2, you will see Other events taking up 82 percent of the content feed. (See Appendix B
for more information about this chart). Unlike A through E categories, F category wasn’t tailored
for an audience celebrating diversity. Even though the second largest category is Hispanics, it
pales in comparison to Other.

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 Figure 2: Facebook
San Antonio Public Library Events Landscape Analysis
Chart for San Antonio
A. 7% Public Library. This
A. Hispanic Chart categorizes the
B. 2%
events by focusing on
C. 2%
diverse material.
D. 6% B. Disbilities

E. 1%
C. African/African Americans

D. Children/Teens

F. 82% E. Immigrants

F. Other (Book Fests, Pop

Con, Book Clubs, Games, etc.)

Secondary Research

Task 2: Analyzing the Population of Librarians in Public Libraries

In Sarah E. Larsen’s article, “Diversity in Public Libraries Strategies for Achieving a More
Representative Workforce,” Larsen explains the importance of diversity in the public library’s
workforce. According to a study in 2014 by American Library Association (ALA), “87.1 percent
of librarians identify as white and 81.0 percent identify as female” (Larsen). In relation to these
statistics, the U.S population is far more racially and ethnically diverse, with “62 percent of the
United States population identify[ing] as white, 12 percent are black, 6 percent are Asian, and 19
percent as Hispanic or as more than one race” (Larsen). In 2019-20, San Antonio’s population
was 1,327,407. The top three races included white at 72 percent, Hispanic at 63 percent, and
“Some Other Race” at 13 percent (Suburban Stats). Keep in mind that the Hispanic and Latino
population may be of any race. When comparing San Antonio’s population to the racial
background of librarians, San Antonio’s population is drastically more diverse.

In Mark Winston and Jennifer Dunne’s case study titled “Children’s Librarians: A Research
Study of Diversity and Leadership,” they discuss the relationship between librarians and their
patrons, while also defining the population of children’s librarians by documenting
characteristics and facts which led them to their career choice in children’s services at a library.
To begin this study, they sent out questionnaires to 2,600 members of the Association for Library
Services to Children (ALSC). Out of those 2,600 members, 350 members were randomly chosen
as participants, with 120 male participants (29-30).1

According to their case study, the female children librarians’ population in the United States
outweighed their male counterpart, with 77.8 percent females and 22.2% males. Whites totaled
91 percent of children librarian population (31). For undergraduate majors, English totaled at

1
The 120 participants were chosen by their first names due to the higher female librarian population and
to stay true to the random sampling methodology. Some of the 120 participants may not identify as male.

9
23.2 percent, with Education second, at 18.7 percent (32). As for professional responsibilities,
“more than ninety percent indicated that they are responsible for each of the following duties:
programming, collection development, and reference services in relation to children’s services”
(35). The final survey item asked participants to provide any additional comments about the
survey. Many noted their concerns about career advancement, leadership, and management
issues. According to multiple respondents, “managers often do not respect children’s librarians
and their work” (36). More management training opportunities may help children’s librarians
advance in their career and “increase the number of administrators who have an understanding of
children’s services and the role of children’s librarians” (36).

In conclusion, Winston and Dunne found that those who work in library children’s services play
an important role in developing literacy in children and providing them information services.
Respondents have indicated that working with children is important to them. Ultimately, this
study revealed the issue of underrepresentation in the profession.

Task 3: Determine the Effects of Diversity in Public Libraries

In “Libraries Need Diverse Books,” author Nicole Overton addresses the power libraries hold for
its patrons. Librarians who display diverse books throughout the year instead of waiting for
national heritage months show they care about their patrons and their opportunities to achieving
global understanding for people of different backgrounds.
A study published by professor Loris Vezzali of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia in
Italy showed that reading novels as a child can shape our attitudes toward others, which of
course, includes stigmatized people. In his study, Vezzali split 34 elementary children into two
groups and made them read passages from Harry Potter to assess their attitudes toward the
characters. After reading these passages, the children were asked questions concerning
stigmatized groups, such as immigrants, homosexuals, and refugees. Vezzali discovered the
group who identified with Harry Potter reading the prejudice passages, like the scene where
Draco calls Harry Potter’s friend, Hermione, a “Mudblood,” showed a significant improvement
in their attitudes toward immigrants. Whereas, the group that didn’t read passages dealing with
prejudice showed no improvement. This study reaffirms the theory of intergroup contact, which
argues that knowledge of outgroups could increase people’s ability to empathize with the
perspective of the outgroup (Vezzali).

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 CONCLUSION

In this section, I present my conclusion based on the results of the three tasks I carried out.

Landscape Facebook Analysis

On the basis of my research, I conclude that SAPL’s Facebook page is strictly focused on
advertising their events. An example of these events includes Maker Faire SA, “Mario Day,”
author events, book festivals, and other recreational events like “McCreless Walking Club.”
There’s a lack of diversity in events and a lack of programs dedicated for children and teens.
Because patrons are concerned with lack of diversity in programs and services, it’s very likely
due to SAPL not promoting diverse events on their Facebook page.

Population of Librarians in Public Libraries

I concluded that the population of librarians in U.S. public libraries are strictly homogeneous.
There’s a lack of diversity in race, ethnicity, and gender. Children’s librarians are mostly white
and female. Also, children’s librarians are less likely to receive leadership and management
training. Because children’s librarians only work with children, they are knowledgeable with the
way children learn and develop and how that effects the workings of libraries. But with
children’s librarians not being able to advance in their career or receive managerial training, the
library is more likely to be run by managers that don’t know how children work, thus leaving out
diversity within the library.

Effects of Diversity in Public Libraries

Librarians displaying diverse books only during the period of a national holiday or special
reading months can cause public libraries to appear less diverse. I conclude that if diverse books
are being accurately displayed on shelves throughout the year, children and teens can be missing
out on diverse collections. Lack of diversity in book can negatively impact children’s
development. Children wouldn’t be able to empathize with others from different backgrounds
and they don’t get to see characters that share their own backgrounds.

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 RECOMMENDATION

I recommend that the SAPL pursue two main changes for their library.

Be More Inclusive with Children and Teens on Social Media Accounts

The Facebook content analysis concluded that SAPL’s Facebook page is strictly posting about
events. However, most of these events did not include diverse material for patrons, let alone for
children and teens. One way to address this can be through creating a readathon for children and
teens. I noticed SAPL periodically posts a hashtag called #BooksWeLove, where a staff member
recommends a book to read. Perhaps something similar can be made for children and teens. It
can be done weekly or biweekly. Children and teens can be categorized in their respective age
groups and read diverse books. There will be new and diverse books for each readathon. After
each readathon, there can be some type of event where children and teens can discuss the books
they’ve read and/or earn rewards for their reading. This readathon can have its own hashtag, that
way it can spark more attention for patrons.

Consider Managerial Training for Children’s and Young Adult Librarians

If SAPL wishes to promote diversity in their library, displaying diverse books throughout the
year, and not just during heritage months, will be beneficial for patrons. But displaying diverse
books isn’t the only change that needs to be done. If children’s and young adult librarians aren’t
respected for their work, this could negatively impact the way the library connects with young
patrons. Allowing leadership and management training opportunities for children’s and young
adult librarians can help serve patrons’ needs better, considering they have better knowledge of
children and young adults’ literature and materials than those who don’t work with children.

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 REFFERENCES

“Current Hispanic Or Latino Population Demographics in San Antonio, Texas 2020, 2019 by
Gender and Age.” Suburban Stats, 2019, suburbanstats.org/population/texas/how-many-
people-live-in-san-antonio.

“Equity, Diversity, Inclusion: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights.” Equity, Diversity,
Inclusion: An Interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights,
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill/interpretations/EDI.

Larsen, Sarah E. “Diversity in Public Libraries Strategies for Achieving a More Representative
Workforce.” Public Libraries Online, 7 Dec. 2017,
http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017/12/diversity-in-public-libraries-strategies-for-
achieving-a-more-representative-workforce/.

Overton, Nicole. "Libraries Need Diverse Books." Public Libraries, vol. 55, no. 1, Jan, 2016, pp.
13-14. ProQuest, https://libweb.lib.utsa.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-
com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/docview/1773243107?accountid=7122.

Winston, Mark D., and Jennifer Dunne. “Children’s Librarians: A Research Study of Diversity
and Leadership.” Public Library Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 1, Taylor & Francis Group, Feb.
2001, pp. 23–38, doi:10.1300/J118v19n01_07.

Vezzali, Loris, et al. “The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter: Reducing Prejudice.” Journal of
Applied Social Psychology, vol. 45, no. 2, Feb. 2015, pp. 105–21,
doi:10.1111/jasp.12279.

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 APPENDICES

Appendix A: Facebook Landscape Analysis Data

San Antonio Public Library Facebook Analysis

Categories Examples of Posts Quantity of
Posts
A. Interaction with 💕 Love is in the air and in books! 💕 Did you
Followers know that February is Library Lovers' Month? To
celebrate, SAPL staff will be sharing the 'Books we
Love' throughout the month!

We're curious, what's one of your all-time favorite

sweet reads?

44

B. Educational
information
It's a fact, everyone loves the library! According to a
recent report by Gallup, visiting the library remains
the most common cultural activity engaged in, by far.

Who agrees with this and how often do you

visit your local branch? Link: 13
https://lithub.com/in-2019-more-americans-went-to-
the-library-than-to-the-movies-yes-
really/?fbclid=IwAR0GefLin-
gDviyLH3TfIeATtKchR4-
FrKFBzWIp07jNIRSXDe2ZpA2zsAc

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C. Events
Lace up your walking shoes and take in the fresh
air every Monday at McCreless Branch Library!
We invite you to join us for a short hour walk that's
perfect for beginners. For information on time &
where to meet visit: https://bit.ly/38q9OdV

113

D. National We're celebrating #WomensHistoryMonth! Make

Celebrations sure you check our collection for works like "The
Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern and other great
titles by amazing women writers! 👭 📚 ✨

11

15
E. Services Have you zine [zeen 👀] this? We're launching a
Zine collection during Maker Faire SA! There will be
zines for browsing, mini-zine making, and other zine-
related activities. We'll be on the 2nd floor of Central
to premiere this collection. We can't wait to see you
there🤩

F. New Releases See what's new this week at the San Antonio Public
Library at:
*** http://wowbrary.org/nu.aspx?fb&p=352-638 ***
There are 17 new bestsellers, 35 new movies, 37 new
audiobooks, 25 new music CDs, 43 new children's
books, and 373 other new books, including 115 that
are available online.
The new bestsellers this week include "The Splendid
28
and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and
Defiance During the Blitz," "When You See Me: A
Novel," and "The Ultimate Retirement Guide for
50+: Winning Strategies to Make Your Money Last a
Lifetime." The new movies this week include
"Knives Out BD [Blu-ray]," "Knives Out," and
"Color Out of Space."

16
G. Friendly reminder:
Announcements All SAPL locations will be closed Monday, January
20 in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Please visit mysapl.org or download our app

"mysapl" for access to our digital catalog.

46

Total* 262
*From analyzing 200 posts

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Appendix B: Facebook Landscape Analysis Data for Events

San Antonio Public Library Facebook Analysis

Diverse/Non-Diverse
Example of Posts Quantity
Events
A. Hispanic In celebration of DreamWeek / DreamVoice we
invite you to join us tonight for a screening and
discussion of the documentary 'Stolen Education',
a film that exposes how Mexican-American farm
worker school children were discriminated in 8
Texas schools in the 1950's. UTSA professor Dr.
Enrique Alemán, Jr., producer and writer of the
documentary will speak about how the case was
resolved.

B. Disabilities

C. African/African We are proud to have Carver Branch Library be

Americans showcased on KSAT 12 & KSAT.com third year
of "Creating Black History in SA" segment that
features people who are making a positive and
lasting impact in the local black community.
3
The month isn't over yet! Take a moment to
check out our upcoming Black History Month
events at mysapl.org

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D. Children/Teens 🐉Dragons, 🦄Unicorns, & 🧜‍♀️Mermaids, OH
MY!

Have a kiddo in pre-K to 12 grade who loves all

things mystical, magical, and mysterious?
Remind them about our new reading program,
'Mythic Creatures, Magical Books' that is
happening through January 12, 2020.

When students read 10 books or attend 10 7

programs at the San Antonio Public Library, they
are not only impressive future library wizards, but
they also receive a magnificent prize thanks to
our friends at the Witte Museum!

For more information on how to participate visit:

https://guides.mysapl.org/Mythic-
Creature🐉Dragons, 🦄Unicorns, &
🧜‍♀️Mermaids, OH MY!
E. Immigrants Central Library is hosting another free Legal
Clinic on Tuesday, January 21, from 2 - 3 PM.
Come out to the Library to learn about how to do 1
taxes for new immigrants.
F. Other (Book Fests, Pop Pop Con is this Saturday! 📅 Check out what the
Con, Book Clubs, San Antonio Current had to say about the event. 94
Games, etc.) 👏
Total 115

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