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BYU student’s audit finds gaps in Ephraim library’s adult fiction collection; recommends doubling targeted acquisitions
Summary
A BYU MPA student presented a diversity audit showing adult fiction authorship falls short of the proportions in Ephraim’s target populations—noting only about five Pacific Islander-authored titles and very few Spanish-language adult fiction titles—and recommended increasing acquisition percentages and improving displays.
A student capstone project presented to the Ephraim Public Library Board on April 15 documented gaps between the community’s demographic targets and authorship in the library’s adult fiction collection and recommended changes to acquisitions and displays.
"For your population you said you have 1.2% from African descent, 0.8% Pacific Islander, and 7.8% Hispanic," the presenter said, then compared those figures to the adult fiction collection she audited. "About 1.3% of your adult fiction collection is written by people from those different descents," she said, and noted Pacific Islander representation was particularly sparse — roughly five titles in the adult fiction holdings. She recommended the library "overcompensate" by allocating roughly double the percentage of acquisitions for the targeted groups to better reflect the strategic-plan goals.
The student said she used automated tools to tag author backgrounds in a 4,000-title adult fiction corpus, then produced a shortlist of contemporary titles the library does not own to help staff prioritize purchases. She also advised improving on-shelf discoverability through thematic displays and targeted placement (for example, deliberately including diverse authors in genre displays) and using spine stickers to make Spanish-language or bilingual books easier to find.
Board members asked follow-up questions about the Spanish-language holdings and circulation. Staff acknowledged adult Spanish-language titles were few (around four in adult fiction), while children’s Spanish-language materials were more numerous and saw better circulation. Several board members suggested outreach to local schools and homeschools to promote adult and young-adult Spanish-language materials and to solicit donation of appropriate titles.
The board accepted the audit as informational and directed staff to consider the acquisition recommendations and display changes when finalizing the collection-development plan for the coming year. The student provided the board with a short list of recommended purchases to avoid duplicating research work.
