County Librarian, Alison McKee, will be providing the Committee with a PowerPoint presentation of her department's DEI efforts and practices.
Since 2013, one of the Library’s strategic goals has been to ensure easy, equitable access to library services for all Contra Costa County residents. As such, the consideration of equity is central to library operations and services.
In response to the nearly 400,000 (and growing) Contra Costa County residents who speak a language other than English at home, the Library increased materials available in over a dozen international languages, with more than 9,000 items added between 2020 and 2022. The Library offers robust International Language collections in Russian, Farsi, Tagalog, Chinese, and Spanish.
The Library contracted with a Spanish language interpreter to deliver regular inclusive programming for Spanish speakers.
Over 100,000 adults in Contra Costa County lack basic literacy skills, and more than one in four new residents is an immigrant speaking another language at home. Project Second Chance (PSC) secured a five-year grant through the California State Library to expand adult literacy work to include adults who are working on their English conversation skills. In addition, PSC primarily provides free and confidential one-on-one tutoring for adults who read or write in English below a sixth-grade level. With over 47% of the county’s population growth between 2014 and 2019 attributable to immigrants, these services respond to a growing need in Contra Costa County for English acquisition services.
The Library Accessibility Committee creates and provides programming for people with cognitive disabilities. The program provides take-home craft project kits designed for teens and adults. The committee has distributed over 500 kits to 11 library branches since its inception in 2021.
The Library Department provides racial equity training to all staff and is systematically reviewing and updating as appropriate all department policies, procedures, and practices using a racial equity lens. The Library’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee significantly expanded its work by initiating countywide events that celebrate Latinx Heritage Month, Anti-Hate Month, Black History Month, and Asian American/Pacific Islander Heritage, and Pride Month.
In FY20-21, libraries piloted free scanning and limited free printing for those in the community needing these services through the Antioch, Bay Point, Concord, Hercules, Pittsburg, and San Pablo branches. After a successful pilot, the program was extended to all libraries and was approved as a permanent policy by the Board of Supervisors on March 1, 2022.
The Library completed a diversity audit of its physical collection and is in the process of analyzing the findings and recommendations, which are expected to be implemented in 2023.
The 2022 Lunch at the Library program provides critically needed meals to children. In collaboration with state and local school districts, this community asset allows children to have food security during non-school sessions while also incorporating library programming and reading activities. Eight library locations served 5,640 meals and gave away 2,801 food boxes.
The Library updated its assistive technology on public computers with new headphones and NVDA (non-visual desktop access) screen reading software at each branch to improve access for patrons with visual impairments.
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