Cate Loveday

LIS 806.99
Library Profile
INTRODUCTION
Libraries should strive to be the information center for all the members of the
community they serve. These communities can be broad, like public libraries, or very
specialized, in the case of academic law libraries. However, libraries might not seem like
a natural choice for many people, especially those who cultural background promotes a
more family/friends centered information system. How can someone who is outside that
cultural group encourage that specific community (or communities) to utilize the library
to its full potential. Elfreda A. Chatman brings up this point in her idea of the 'small
world. ' To reach our entire library community we must learn who they are and what is
of importance to them. 'Things of most interest to them are those that are most
accessible, have a firm footing in everyday reality, and respond to some practical
concern.' (Chatman, 447)
As librarians we should strive to have a strong knowledge of our collection but
our understanding of the people and communities we serve should be equal if not
greater.
PART 1 DEMOGRAPHICS
To collect the data needed for my library profile I used multiple resources offered
by the United States Census Bureau website. These included Quick Facts, American Fact
Finder, and the American Community Survey (specifically the ACS 5 Year Estimates
from 2008-2012). Each of these resources can give broad general information about a

state, county, or town/village to very detailed information about a subgroup in that area
depending on your search requirements.
Lombard, Illinois
Helen Plum Memorial Library is located in Lombard, Illinois, a western suburb of
Chicago. I work in the Youth Services Department where we focus on serving children
birth to 18 years old as well as the guardians and teachers who care for them.
I used Quick Facts to find that the village had a population of 43,165 during the last
Census in 2010, the estimated population for 2013 is 43,907.
According to the Census the population is broken down by 80.7% White, 9.8%
Asian, 4.6% African American, 0.1% American Indian and 2.9% identifying as some
other race. The population is further diverse by 8.1% being Hispanic or Latino heritage.
The educational attainment for this community in the population 25 years and older is
21.3% have a High School Diploma only, 22.2% have some college but no degree, and
28.2% have their Bachelors degree. The median household income in the past 12
months is $71,721.
Foreign Born Population
The ACS reports that 13.6% of the population is Foreign Born, with 95.8%
entering the country before 2010. The World Regions of Birth for the Foreign Born are
Europe 26.1%, Asia 44.7%, Latin American 26.6%, Africa 1.7% and North American
0.9%. Of the Foreign Born population 54% have become United States Citizens, leaving
46% to be non U.S. citizens.

Multi-lingual Groups
Looking at the population of people 5 years and older (41,278 people) the ACS
says that 81.5% report speaking English only at home. The most common languages that
are spoken at home besides English are other Indo-European language 8.5%, Spanish
6.7%, and Asian and Pacific Islander language 2.9%. On our library website we offer 5
languages besides English that our page can be translated into. They include Arabic,
Hindi, Polish, Spanish, and Urdu.(www.helenplum.org) The website for the Lombard
School District 44 offers 47 languages that their website can be translated into.
(www.sd44.org)
Age Groups
To identify the age groups in this community I looked at three specific categories
on the 2010 Census. 6.0% of the population is under 5 years old, 78.4% of the
population is 18 years or older and 14.2% is 65 or older.
Latino Community in Lombard, Illinois
I decided to focus my research on the Latino population of Lombard, Illinois. The
American Fact Finder was most helpful at finding the information specific to the Latino
population. As stated above the total population of Lombard is 43,165 people. The
Latino community makes up 8.1% of this population with 3,487 people. The countries of
origin for this community are Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Bolivia, Columbia,
Ecuador, and Peru. Of this population 1,158 are Foreign Born and 41% are United States
Citizens. The two most common languages spoken at home are English and Spanish.

46% of this population speak English only while of fluently while 13.3% report they
speak Spanish only or do not speak English well.
Broken down by age: 3.3% people are under the age of 5, 69.5% people are
between the ages of 18 and 64, and 7.3% people are 65 years or older. The educational
attainment of this community in people 25 years and older: 26% have their high school
diploma, 15% have some college - more than 1 year, 15% have their Bachelors degree.
The median household income for a Latino in in the past 12. months is $76, 078.
Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgendered Community (LGBT)
I could not find Census data specifically about the LGBT community in Lombard,
Illinois. However when looking at the website for Glenbard East High School, the local
public high school in the area, I found the PRISM club. PRISM is open to all students
interested in addressing intolerance and prejudice surrounding issues of gender bias,
sexual harassment and homophobic discrimination by providing a safe place for
students to talk. Providing educational materials, Prism promotes an environment and
school culture of tolerance and respect. (www.glenbardeasths.org)
Working with the Youth Services Community at the Helen Plum Library, which
serves patrons up to 18 years old, this could be a valuable resource and group to get
involved with to begin to learn about the needs of the young LGBT community we serve.
Persons with Disabilities
According to the ACS the disability status of the civilian non-institutionalized
population is 10.8%. When looked at closer 4% are under 18 years old, 7.1% and between
the ages of 18 to 64, and 37.6% are 65 years or older.

I also looked the State Report Cards from the Illinois State Board of Education
and found that 13% of students enrolled in Lombard School District 44 are currently
receiving special services required by their Individualized Education Plan (IEP).
Lombard School District 44 has 7 schools and serves children from Early Childhood to
Eighth Grade. When looking at the School Report Card for Glenbard East High School
(Ninth Grade to Twelfth Grade) 12.2% of students are receiving special services set up
by their IEP. (www.illinoisreportcard.com)
PART 2 KNOWING THE COMMUNITY
Literacy DuPage
Literacy DuPage was established in 1972. They are a nonprofit, community based
organizations that servers over 30 communities in DuPage County. Literacy DuPage
trains volunteer tutors to provide customized, learner-centered English language
instruction. In addition to their tutoring the organization also offers eleven English
Conversation Groups to ESL students of all levels at no charge.
(www.literacyvolunteerdupage.org
Informal Conversation
On Monday, June 16, 2014, I talked to Bernie Steiger from Literacy DuPage over
the phone. Steiger is the Executive Director for Literacy DuPage, as of August 2013, and
is also an adjunct professor at Elmhurst College.
DuPage Literacy works with Adult Learners (over 18 years old) who are 90%
English as a Second Language learners. They work with speakers of over 34 different
languages but the most prevalent is Spanish. The other 10% of students they work with

are Adult Basic Literacy, these cases vary between Native Born Citizens or Foreign Born
who possibly came over when they were very young. The average age of the adult learner
in Literacy DuPage is 40 years old.
Adult learners are referred to Literacy DuPage by many of the organizations they
partner with, Health and Human Services agencies. They have an intake specialist, who
is bilingual in Spanish, that reviews applications, and will then contact them for an
intake interview. They will set up a time and place to meet. The Intake Specialist will
then learn more about their demographics, their availability, and will also find out what
the adults goals are for the programs. A baseline for the adults language skills are also
determined. They are then put on a waitlist of over 200 people, with typically 2-4
months before they can be set up with a tutor.
Once the tutor is assigned they meet with the adult learner and create lesson
plans to help them reach their goals. These goals are typically related to practical
everyday life skills like being able to talk to their childs teacher, getting a new job or
becoming an American citizen. The tutor receives over 18 hours of free training before
they are put with a student, so that they are prepared and able to help the adult learner
achieve to the best of their ability.
Promoting the tutoring program is a very important part the Literacy DuPage
program. Promotion is how they are able to get volunteers, which are much needed in
varying parts of DuPage (specifically in places with a large Latino population such as
Addison). Public Libraries are an important part of promoting to possible volunteers.
They hand out Literacy DuPage brochures and information on new tutor training.

Libraries also allow the organization to use the space for free for tutoring sessions and
tutor training. The websites
Volunteer Match
and
Giving DuPage
are also places where
they promote for volunteers.
Steiger described the population of Adult Learners at Literacy DuPage as a
modest group. Many of them are unable to take the classes offered at Community
Colleges because of their availability. Some might be working a second or third shift, do
not have transportation available, or do not have the option of child care during those
times. Steiger remarked that many of the students they see entering the program have a
low level of literacy, even in their home language. Word of mouth is the best promotion
they have found to reach this group. They also have a partnership with Head Start, Early
Childhood Care Provider for At Risk Children, so that Mothers can learn about the
program. These women are often already isolated so this program works around them to
make the classes convenient for them.
When asked her opinion of the biggest obstacle for this population in regards to using
the library Steiger said that transportation was probably number one. Whether it was
not having a car or not living close to a library, this played the biggest role in what would
be keeping the ESL population away from the library. She also mentioned a lack of
information, possibly not being aware what materials and programs their library had to
offer.
The tutoring and volunteer training are the two biggest programs they have at
Literacy DuPage. However, they also offer English Conversation Groups. These groups
are guided by a volunteer and allow the adult learner to practice speaking English is a

relaxed and more comfortable atmosphere. These groups are regularly hosted at 11 area
public libraries around DuPage county. The groups meet on average of once or twice a
month. These are free of charge.
Literacy DuPage has also begun a Workforce Education program. They will go
into businesses and teach the employees literacy and basic math computations skills.
Each business has their own assessment, curriculum, and evaluation.
Literacy DuPage works with a variety of community organizations throughout the
DuPage area. Some of these include Family Shelter Services, DuPage PADS, Peoples
Resource Center, World Relief, local area School Districts, Faith based organizations,
and Just of DuPage, a nonprofit organization that works with the inmates of DuPage
County Jail. Wherever they see a potential need, Steiger says they work to make a
relationship. Any relationship is access to get the word out. Their biggest partners
though are the Public Libraries of DuPage, along with the Plainfield Public Library and
the Fountaindale Public Library in Bolingbrook, Illinois. All of the public libraries they
work with were awarded their Community Partner of the Year award in 2013.
When asked how she would describe the organizations experience working with
libraries Steiger said it was incredibly positive, they are central to our model. We
couldnt accomplish what we do without them.
CONCLUSION
While doing this project I was amazed at how much information I could learn
about an area by using the different resources available on the United States Census
website. I knew how to use it for very general purpose, finding out demographics,

population, etc, but the experience using the American Fact Finder was very beneficial. I
liked being able to use the guided search function to find specific statistic related to my
needs.
Before this class I also had no experience with the American Community Survey,
this resource gave me information I didnt even know was collected. I enjoyed looking at
my town of Lombard, and comparing it to neighboring area, the whole county and the
state of Illinois.
The only trouble I had was making sure I was getting all my information from the
same charts, especially when comparing the general population of Lombard to the
Latino community of Lombard. I had to make sure I was looking at charts from the
same source (either the Census or the ACS) and the same year.
I really enjoyed having the opportunity to research and talk to a local community
organization, that works closely with the Latino population in my area. It was really
inspiring to hear all the things they do for the ESL population and how integral public
libraries are to their success. Through the conversation I also learned about other
community organizations that I had not heard of which I am excited to learn more
about. I took away a new ideas of how libraries can assist their community and a new
contact I could work with to make changes
.

Resources
"American FactFinder."
American FactFinder
. Web. 13 June 2014.
Chatman, Elfreda A. "Life in a Small World: Applicability of Gratification Theory to
Information-seeking Behavior."
Journal of the American Society for
Information Science
42.6 (1991): 438-49. Web. 13 June 2014.
"Glenbard East High School."
Glenbard East High School
. Glenbard East High School.
Web. 13 June 2014.
"Illinois Report Card."
Illinois Report Card
. Illinois State Board of Education. Web. 13
June 2014.
"Literacy DuPage Home - Literally Changing Lives."
Literacy DuPage Home - Literally
Changing Lives
. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 June 2014.
"Lombard Elementary District 44."
Lombard Elementary District 44
. School District
44. Web. 13 June 2014.
Steiger, Bernie. "DuPage Literacy." Telephone interview. 16 June 2014.
"United States Census Bureau."
USA QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
. Web. 13
June 2014.