Best. Library. Ever.?: Identifying Library-Climate Enhancement Opportunities through a Multiphase Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Needs Assessment Project

Objectives: Charged with developing the local diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) climate, a newly established DEI team in an academic health sciences library launched a multi-phase needs assessment project to identify environmental limitations and enhancement opportunities. The project’s objectives were to 1) quantitatively assess patrons’ attitudes on the existing library climate and 2) qualitatively identify contextual factors influencing patrons’ perceptions.

Methods: During April-July 2019, HappyOrNot customer satisfaction terminals were situated at the library’s two main entrances on the first and second floors to collect responses to a series of DEI questions. The machines displayed one question per week, inviting patrons to indicate their satisfaction through pressing one of four buttons with a range of happy to sad faces. A comment box collected optional open-ended responses to each question. While giving a broad overview, this method did not allow for analysis of whether diverse population groups experience the library differently and excluded individuals who do not visit the physical library space. Thus, a follow-up online survey was distributed in February-April 2020 to gather more detailed feedback. The survey posed 17 questions (Likert-Scale), as well as additional open-ended and demographic questions. It was distributed via the library’s website, social media, and emails from liaison librarians.

Results: The HappyorNot project yielded 3445 responses and 7 comments. Over 90% of participants felt the library is welcoming, safe, and that they are treated equitably and with respect by employees, with one patron commenting “Best. library. ever… I feel at home here.” Negative responses referred to other patrons’ behavior, services for people with disabilities, and services for those whose native language is not English. There were 101 respondents to the online survey; participants’ responses were collated and cross-referenced with the demographic data provided, with the purpose of delineating the experiences of different population groups.

Conclusions: Overall, the assessment facilitated better understanding of the library-related DEI needs and expectations of different patron populations. In addition to opening a dialogue on inclusivity topics, the project enabled the DEI Team to identify priority issues for improvement, gave suggestions for specific changes to the library’s physical space, prompted training ideas for all library employees, and provided a baseline against which the impact of the DEI Team’s future work can be measured. Future plans include a library-based DEI environmental scan to identify current resources and resource gaps, which will focus on the priority issues discerned through the assessment project.