“Louder for the people in the back”

Abstract

Racial segregation in publicly funded libraries in the United States was generally accepted until 1964 when the Civil Rights Act made it illegal. Today, public libraries continue to be beset by underrepresentation and discrimination. Current literature calls to improve the LIS landscape by integrating social justice and equity into research, education, and practice while also confronting systemic racism. In this paper, we posit to improve LIS research by diversifying representation through qualitative methods by including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) perspectives and participation to help address the persistent negative impacts of racial discrimination. We demonstrate how qualitative methods are vital to more fully elicit the stories, experiences, feelings, and perspectives of historically marginalized populations. We include advice through verbatim quotations from a BIPOC community leader with extensive experience with LIS research which promotes understanding and empathy as LIS continues to confront historical and contemporary racial discrimination.