Immigrant & Refugee Strategic Planning Research
Allen County Public Library
Innovation Synopsis
In 2023, the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) conducted research to develop a new strategic plan. As part of its fact-finding, and in the spirit of our 2018-22 strategic plan which included a strategy to “assess and understand cultural differences and needs of Allen County residents,
including new and immigrant/ refugee populations, and seek to meet those needs”, we partnered with local consulting firm Petra Solutions, LLC to conduct facilitated discussions, focus groups, interviews, electronic surveys, and policy review during the spring and summer of 2023. The subsequent report was critical to the Library’s 2024-28 strategic plan “Allen County’s Window to Lifelong Learning and Discovery.”
Challenge/Opportunity
Allen County, Indiana is home to a growing and vibrant immigrant and refugee community. According to the New American in Allen County Report, 25,300 immigrants live in Allen County (as of 2019) and 24% of the total population growth in the county is attributed to immigrants. The county is also home to thousands of refugees. As an anchor service in the community, the ACPL knew it had the opportunity to play a critical role in serving these communities, but we felt we did not have the necessary connections to truly learn the services they wanted, needed, and expected from a library system.
We chose to employ the services of a local consulting firm with a long history of work with immigrant and refugee communities and non-profit sector organizations. Petra Solutions, LLC helped us ask good questions, gain trust, and listen to what challenges and opportunities were waiting as we engage an underserved segment of our community
Key Elements of Innovation
Internal Review
- Policy Review – Petra conducted full review of library policies and procedures
- Virtual facilitated discussions with 29 ACPL staff about current state strengths/weaknesses and future threats/opportunities
- Email survey of ACPL, 84 staff participated
External Research
- 9 Anchors Interviews –Petra defines anchors as immigrants/refugees who have resettled five+ years ago, who are in a position of providing reliable and principal support to new immigrants and refugees from similar backgrounds
- 8 Focus Groups - included immigrants and refugees from Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Myanmar, Peru, and Thailand.
- 10 Partner Organization Interviews
Following months of research Petra Solutions their findings to ACPL leadership and board members organized in 4 categories:
- Engagement with immigrant/refugee communities
- Resource availability and issues surrounding the delivery of services
- Safety at ACPL locations
- Miscellaneous issues
Achieved Outcomes
The ACPL developed strategic plan goals impacted by the report:
- Participate in strategic community partnerships focused on digital equity and access
Grow employee resources groups/staff circles/affinity groups - Research and propose staff bilingual bonus
- Create one or more bilingual Partnerships and Programs Specialist position
- Introduce bilingual Storytimes
- Conduct a diversity audit of the collection
- Audit marketing materials and translate them into other languages, as appropriate
- Ensure ACPL’s website, mobile app, marketing materials, signage, and services are in multiple languages
- Celebrate diversity in our community through appropriate displays, marketing materials, reading lists, website showcases, etc.
- Redesign entrances and service points to be welcoming, responsive, and efficient
- Include multilingual as well as graphical signage
- Incorporate digital and other technology-based signage platforms
- Practice the use of plain language instead of library jargon
