Everyday Obstacles: Cultural Humility in Children’s Library Services

Authors

  • David A. Hurley
  • Sarah R. Kostelecky
  • Lori Townsend

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5860/cal.21.2.3

Abstract

Twenty years ago, David (one of the authors of this article) was the director of a community college library in a town with no public library. The college’s teacher education program was excuse enough to maintain a strong children’s collection, and kids from the nearby elementary school would often spend the afternoon in the library. Two in particular stand out: a sister and brother who were in the library nearly every day. They were shy with the library staff, but their enthusiasm was palpable as they excitedly showed books to each other and sat reading together for hours at a time, from when school got out to when their parents got off work. Their love for the library made the work seem worth it.

And then, suddenly, they stopped coming.

Author Biographies

David A. Hurley

David A. Hurley is the Discovery and Web Librarian at the University of New Mexico University Libraries.

Sarah R. Kostelecky

Sarah R. Kostelecky (Zuni Pueblo) is an associate professor and the Director of Digital Initiatives and Scholarly Communication (DISC) at the University of New Mexico’s College of University Libraries and Learning Sciences.

Lori Townsend

Lori Townsend (Shoshone-Paiute) is the Learning Services Coordinator and a Social Sciences Librarian at the University of New Mexico University Libraries.

Downloads

Published

2023-06-16

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 2 (2023): Summer

Section

Features

License

In the event that an author's work is accepted for publication in CAL, the author is required to sign a copyright agreement with ALA/ALSC. For more information and/or to download the copyright forms, visit the ALA Publishing Web site.

Send correspondence to

Sharon Korbeck Verbeten
CAL editor
820 Spooner Ct.
De Pere, WI 54115
920-339-2740
CALeditor@yahoo.com