Representing the readers: Conducting a diversity audit of library collections

In 2020, the Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley library launched a campus-wide reading program with the intent of expanding worldviews through the voices and perspectives of marginalized groups. As this initiative influenced collection development, library staff began to question the contents of the collections that already existed. A diversity audit was designed and conducted to examine popular reading materials with regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and religion. The goal of the diversity audit was to inform the library and generate an inclusive collection that was more representative of the students, faculty, and staff who see and read the items therein. After doing an initial search for how other institutions have approached a diversity audit, the library decided to create a new survey using Google Forms. Each survey prompted library staff to examine the identities of creators and main characters in books found in both the popular browsing collection as well as those in the collection of graphic novels and comics. The results of the diversity audit will provide library management with data to promote more inclusive collection development practices and increase library outreach and engagement efforts.