Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring Diversity In Booth Library, Madeline Reiher, Dionne Lipscomb, Jacob Mueller, Kirstin Duffin, Ellen Corrigan

Together We RISE (Making Excellence Inclusive)

The first sentence in the mission statement for Eastern Illinois University’s Booth Library states “Our mission is to collaboratively empower the intellectual and creative growth of our diverse campus and community.” This commitment to the promotion of diversity has led the librarians and their DEI committee to ask an important question, are students of diverse backgrounds comfortable using our facilities? This research used a mixed-methods study to survey and interview numerous African American undergraduate EIU students to learn more about their experiences with Booth Library, specifically how it is used, when it is used, and changes they would like to …