Libraries aspire to diversify their collections so that all walks of life and identities are properly represented. Collections within a library's holdings are measured for diversity by using identifiers, or terms used to describe who people are as unique individuals through how they look, act, and behave after events in their lives. Identifiers can be used to describe different characters in a book, or the authors of the books themselves. The goal of a diversity audit is to create a snapshot of data showing the identifiers that are used to describe key figures in library materials. This data is then analyzed to determine future collection development strategies that might be used to further diversify collections.
This library guide lays out best steps to follow to conduct a diversity audit. Included are examples of a diversity audit conducted by library intern Jordan Prouty in the summer of 2023, including spreadsheets, identifiers used, data pie charts, and analysis.
*Methodology for conducting the initial diversity audit that inspired this LibGuide was largely derived from previous examples referenced in the links below. As previous research advises as well as this LibGuide, identifiers and processes used are recommendations and are based on the auditor's knowledge of their collection(s). By no means are the examples shown in this LibGuide the required tools, categorizations, or steps that a library must use to complete their own diversity audit.