ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 5 2 4 1 C& RL News Academic libraries and the culturally diverse student population By Tesfai Kflu Acquisitions an d Serials Librarian State University o f N ew York, College at Fredonia and Mary A. Loomba Instru ctio n /Service Librarian W estchester C om m unity College Becoming aware o f the special needs o f minority and international students. The growing cultural diversity and its im- J K pact on th e “traditional” A m erican way o f life is being seriously discussed and analyzed by academic institutions, city governm ents, and m any other organizations alike. Today th e nation stands at a crossroads facing th e challenges as well as th e opportunities o f a truly m ulticultural society in an increasingly internationalized world. At th e rate the n u m b er o f ethnic m inorities is growing h ere in the U nited States, after two decades or so, th e changes in num eric realities will be so stunning th a t it will be h ard to tell who is m ajority and who is not. With this astounding dem ographic tren d , th e n a­ tion is now at an o p p o rtu n e tim e to take necessary steps in th e right d irectio n .1 A little late may be too late. The C entral A dm inistration o f th e State U niver­ sity of New York has b een com m itted to a “plural­ istic educational com m unity” for several years. This year, th e Office o f th e P resid en t at SUNY College o f F red o n ia p re p a re d a flier en titled “P re ­ paring for th e N ineties.” O ne o f th e five m ajor issues which th e College is com m itted to deal with is pluralism in ethnic and cultural diversity. R e­ ’“N C L IS Task F o rce on C u ltu ra l M inorities R eports,” Library Journal 108 (1983), 2190+. cently, an article in th e N ew York Times discussed a new SUNY task force th a t is being established th a t w ould b e able to travel to th e various SUNY cam ­ puses to ease racial tensions w hen and if they o ccu r.2 O u r in terest in libraries responding to culturally diverse stu d en t populations began w hen we w ere p rep arin g for a session at th e SUNYLA Annual C onference in June 1989. At this tim e we focused on some o f th e issues and problem s th a t foreign students and A m erican culturally diverse students face in confronting th e complexities o f academ ic libraries. A panel o f five re p re se n te d H ispanic- Americans, African-Americans, A m erican Indians, Asian-Americans, and all o th e r international stu ­ dents. As a result o f o u r program , a Special In te re st G roup sponsored by SUNYLA was form ed. T he Special In te re st G roup intends to sponsor regional activities and to establish goals for ensuring a favor­ able cultural environm ent am ong all th e SUNY libraries. W e are especially concerned th a t we do w hat we can to avoid th e type o f racial and ethnic 2“SUNY Adopts N ew Strategy to Ease Its Racial Tensions,” N ew York Times, D ecem b e r 24, 1989, p.23. M O H A W K M I D L A N D Manufacturers o f Quality Library Furniture 5 2 6 / C& RL News incidents th a t have b een occurring regularly on campuses all over th e U nited States in th e last few years. T he p u rp o se o f this article is to reflect on some of o u r observations and to provide suggestions th a t will help academ ic libraries encourage and w el­ com e culturally diverse students. W e will address the needs o f ethnic “m inority” students as well as international students. Minority students F o r librarians to be able to serve ethnic m inority students, it is essential to educate ourselves on th e hard ethnic realities w hich this nation is facing. Only th e n can we offer functional and m eaningful service,and facilitate excellence in education for minority students. Among some o f th e h ard reali­ ties we have to b e aware o f are facts such as th e following:3 1. Among m inority teenagers, th e functional illiteracy rate is 40% com pared to 13% o f th e American youth overall. 2. A 1985 survey showed th a t th e average re a d ­ ing proficiency o f 17-year-old black students was just slightly higher th an th a t o f 13-year-old w hite students. 3. Only 20% o f 17-year-old black students had sufficient reading proficiency to engage in college- level work. 4. In disadvantaged u rb an settings th e high school d ro p o u t rate is 40-50% com pared to 25% for the general population. 5. M inority students frequently lack th e library skills req u ired to succeed in higher education. 6. M inority students are m ost often perceived to be “inform ation p o o r.” All these did not h ap p en w ithout a reason. In spite o f th e historic legislation, B row n vs. The Board o f E ducation (1954), w hich p u t an en d to segregated education, th e scholastic achievem ents of minority students have not achieved parity w ith their fellow w hite citizens. The historical, as well as several c u rre n t social and cultural factors, have b een identified as im ­ pedim ents confronting m inority stu d e n ts’ quest for excellence in education.4 W hat librarians n e e d to do to help m inority students make effective use o f library services is first to m ake ourselves knowl­ edgeable about th e issues affecting eth n ic m inori­ ties. Benjamin Carson has w ritten a significant article that describes environm ental factors o f m inority 3James A. H e fn e r and Leila G. Rhodes. “Excel­ lence in Education: Libraries Facilitating L earning for Minority S tudents.” Eric D ocum ent No. 284590 (January 5, 1987), 5. 4H efn er and Rhodes, 6. children th a t affect learning in scientific fields. (It occurs to us th a t th ese factors affect learning in any field.) First, p aren ts o f m inority children are said to b e rarely p re se n t to help direct th e ir ch ild ren ’s lives. W hoever is caring for th em is usually too busy trying to survive to pay m uch attention to th e ch ild ren .5 A nother problem is that, in general, p eople in th e black and som e o f th e o th e r ethnic m inority com m unities, lack scientific expertise. T hey are unable to provide th e sam e p roportion o f scientific role m odels as m ore privileged com m unities. At John H opkins M edical School, for example, top applicants w ere found to have been exposed to a high level o f scientific and technical knowledge from th e tim e th e children are born. In fact, m any m edical stu d e n ts’ paren ts are renow ned scientists, teachers, and p ractitioners in various scientific fields. Along w ith knowing about th e backgrounds o f culturally diverse students, it is im portant for li­ brarians to avoid stereotyped attitudes about th e abilities and achievem ents o f these students. W hen necessary, it is not difficult to g en erate in-house ways and m eans to bring disadvantaged students up to college level. T hese students b enefit from in te n ­ sive bibliographic instruction, library orientation and te rm p a p e r clinics. Studies have b e e n co n ­ d u c te d and have validated th e co ntention th a t bibliographic instruction program s do have a posi­ tive influence on stu d en ts’ educational pursuits. At W estc h ester C om m unity College, th e p r e ­ college level students who are enrolled in a course called A dvanced R eading have two separate library assignm ents. O ne is a New York Times assignm ent w hich involves analyzing the news th a t occurs on th e ir birthday. In this assignm ent th e students becom e thoroughly familiar with th e microfilm m achines and th e concept o f storing back issues o f periodicals. T he second assignm ent has to do with looking up one book and two articles on a p articular topic, all o f which n eed to be sum m arized. Thus, th e students learn how to use th e online catalog and th e R eaders’ G uide to Periodical Literature. By th e tim e these students take th e freshm an English course, C om position and L iteratu re I, they are com pletely at ease in th e library. In fact, they often help th e o th e r students who have not n e e d e d to take a developm ental course. A w ell-thought-out collection developm ent p ro ­ gram w ould also be an o th er logical move tow ards m eeting th e needs o f ethnic m inority students. O f course, th e collection o f any academ ic library should su p p o rt th e curriculum and also develop a wide and varied general collection. It is also im por- 5B enjam in S. Carson, “Factors Affecting M inor­ ity L earning in Scientific Fields, ” Journal o f College Science Teaching, M arch/April 1988, 341. June 1990 / 527 tant that libraries buy resources that are relevant and reflective o f th e stu d e n ts’ cultural b ack ­ grounds. Materials should be in a variety of for­ mats, print and non-print. It has been said that cultural or ethnically ori­ ented library collections have enormous potential for fostering self-validation among culturally di­ verse students. This type of collection enhances the understanding of their cultural background. International students The o th er group o f students that librarians should give due consideration is the international students. These are the students who are in the United States temporarily, and are primarily here on student or diplomatic visas. They plan to return to their home countries when their studies are completed. Mary Alice Ball and Molly Mahony of th e U ni­ versity of Michigan said, “if we show foreign stu­ dents that we do not expect perfect English from then and that we value the considerable effort they are making by studying in the United States, they will return by opening up and trusting us to help them .” The same authors continue by m entioning that foreign students will not hesitate to ask for assistance once a librarian is recognized as a person who is willing to help.6 Needless to say, building a good relationship is very im portant. It is essential to realize that a positive or negative experience may influence any student’s perception of the entire staff. As one of the panelists m entioned at the SUNYLA Annual Conference session in June 1989, if you dislike the professor you hate the course. If you dislike the librarian, you have a bad impression of the library. While conducting bibliographic instruction for international students, it helps to use teaching aids such as hand-outs, overhead transparencies, and blackboards to reinforce what you are teaching them. A glossary of library term s is also helpful. It is very likely that services such as database search­ ing, interlibrary loan, and term paper consultation may not exist in the developing countries from w here most foreign students come. It is im portant, therefore, to make a point that the students are aware that these services exist. It is useful for librarians to be aware that differ­ ent cultures have different concepts and p e rc e p ­ tions of what is acceptable and normal behavior. For example, there is the m atter of personal space. North Americans feel comfortable with a conversa­ tional distance o f about five feet. Arabs are used to a two-foot distance. As a result, North Americans 6Mary Alice Ball and Molly Mahony, “Foreign Students, Libraries, and C ulture,” College & Re­ search Libraries 48 (March 1987): 160-166. may feel uncom fortable in this type of com m unica­ tion situation. It is helpful for librarians to becom e informed, through the office for international students or the foreign student adviser, about the composition of international students who are enrolled in a p ar­ ticular semester. Find out which foreign groups are likely to have the most problem s with adjustment. If a college or university is educating a large num ­ b er of Egyptians, for example, the library should have a reasonable am ount of materials on Egypt and, at least, one Egyptian newspaper. Something that has been especially helpful at W estchester Com m unity College has been having two librarians as club advisers. A librarian from China is adviser to the F ar Eastern Club. The other librarian is an adviser to the International F rien d ­ ship Club. These librarians share an office, and th eir office is the focal point for both clubs. Needless to say, librarians m ust avoid patroniz­ ing attitudes towards our culturally diverse stu­ dents. Endless patience and persistence are abso­ lutely necessary, but it will be effective in the long run. Last spring, at W estchester Com m unity Col­ lege, th ere was a woman from Jamaica who seem ed to need our help constantly. It was difficult at times to be patient, but she was trying so hard that we continued to assist h er w henever she needed any­ thing. This last summer, the same woman from Jamaica was not only doing all the work herself, she was helping all the other students around her. Conclusion Being culturally alert is essential for minority ethnic groups as well as international students. For librarians, and other service professions such as nursing, it is especially im portant. One author in the nursing field suggests that a failure to u n d er­ stand the cultural heritage of a patient can lead to culturally inaccurate and inappropriate judgm ents. This can contribute to ineffective and even unsafe interventions.7 Librarians must also becom e adept at cultural appraisal and cultural empathy. W hen this occurs, librarians are able to automatically and naturally choose the best m ethods for helping each student most effectively. The goal of any academic institution is for stu­ dents to enjoy satisfying educational experiences by means of a positive learning environm ent and stimulating social interaction with peers and ed u ­ cators. The college or university library is the ideal setting in which these goals should be realized, especially for minority and international students. ■ ■ "Susan Mattson, “The N eed for Cultural C on­ cepts in Nursing C urricula,” Journal o f Nursing Education 26 (May 1967): 206.