Is the Library a “Welcoming Space”?: An Urban Academic Library and Diverse Student Experiences
Abstract
This article presents a case study of an urban academic library’s attempt to identify factors that influence the perceptions of students of color concerning the library as a welcoming space. The goal of this study is to determine if there are qualitative divergent factors along racial lines concerning how students use this library. The research is grounded in the theory of symbolic interactionism and Critical Race Theory. The authors then used these theories to focus on three themes that emerged reflecting racial differences among library users. This project adds to the limited scholarly research concerning the influence of the library on the experiences and the retention and success rates of students of color.
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Students from marginalized communities often gravitate toward staff who share their background or a common language other than English, while lack of staff diversity sometimes inhibits these students from seeking help or using the library.
“Students from marginalized communities often gravitate toward staff members who offer the comfort and familiarity of a shared background or a common language other than English, while a lack of diversity among the staff sometimes inhibits these students from seeking help or even using the library (Bonnet & McAlexander, 2012;Elteto & Jackson, 2008;Long, 2011).”
From In Pursuit of Antiracist Social Justice: Denaturalizing Whiteness in the Academic Library (2015) · cites this paper as Elteto & Jackson, 2008
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In Pursuit of Antiracist Social Justice: Denaturalizing Whiteness in the Academic Library
Brook, F., Ellenwood, D., & Lazzaro, A. E. (2015) · Library Trends · doi:10.1353/lib.2015.0048 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
- Authors
- Elteto, S., Jackson, R. M., & Lim, A.
- Venue
- portal: Libraries and the Academy
- Publisher
- Project MUSE
- Published
- 2008-07
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 325-337
- ISSN
- 1530-7131 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2043376860
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 16.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- portal Libraries and the Academy (publishedVersion)
- Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Administration
- Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Library Science and Information Literacy
- Social Sciences › Education › Higher Education Research Studies
- Keywords
- academic libraries, urban libraries, students of color, library users' perceptions, student retention, student success, symbolic interactionism, critical race theory
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