Diversifying Building Blocks for Remote Engagement
San José Public Library, Calif.
Advocacy & Awareness
| 2020
Innovation Synopsis
We applied an equity lens into SJPL services to ensure historically underserved members would not be left behind. We expanded telephone, text and online support, enhanced chat features and widgets for Vietnamese, Mandarin and Spanish. This created a diverse and inclusive set of building blocks for the community’s remote engagement with the library.
Challenge/Opportunity
- Exacerbated digital divide among historically underserved groups.
- Concentration of COVID-19 cases affecting local BIPOC population.
- Public confusion over abrupt and continual changes in public programs; limited information available in languages other than English.
- Abrupt closure on March 17, 2020 meant customers' only way to reach the library was via website and LibChat. Additional communication and outreach strategies needed.
- Accessible service delivery for people with hearing loss/difficulty for express pickup.
Key Elements of Innovation
- Cross-departmental consolidation of customer engagement via online, texting and phone-based systems, including staff training and protocols.
- Embedded four major language communities and hard of hearing accommodations.
- Working groups address gaps in service for different abilities, racial/ethnic underrepresentation and socio-economic vulnerabilities.
- Programs (streaming, closed captioning videos, call-in) cater to people of diverse connectivity, language, tech understanding and engagement modality needs.
Achieved Outcomes
From March 17 through September 30, 2020:
- RefChat consultations was 15,502. The same period in 2019 totaled 1,218.
- Total PickUp text conversations was 25,959.
- Reached over 40,000 people via social media posts .
- 57% increase in YouTube traffic includes closed captioning and multilingual content.
- 768 hrs of RefChat and email staffing support in Spanish, Vietnamese, Mandarin.
- 283.24% increase in translated page views from year prior.
Planned:
- Increased percentage of multilingual programs offered
- Development of EDI Standards
