The field of library and information science (LIS) continues to struggle with the issue of diversity and inclusion. As we are perpetually working to increase racial and gender diversity in the profession, the definition of diversity continues to broaden to include socioeconomic status, education, language, literacy, age, sexual orientation,…

Eleanor (Edwards) Ledbetter, who served immigrant populations in Cleveland throughout most of the Progressive Era and the Great Depression, was one of the first librarians to advocate for multiculturalism (then called cultural pluralism) as opposed to Americanism. In providing multicultural and multilingual library services for immigrants,…

Libraries nationwide are serving increasingly diverse communities as the changing face of America is reflected in the changing information needs of diverse patrons. A key issue in serving the multicultural community is adopting a revised version of collection development. Materials in the native languages of ethnic and language minorities,…