Contra Costa County Library's Collection Diversity Audit Experience

Contra Costa County Library, like most in California, serves a diverse population. While the Contra Costa County Library realized from patron and staff feedback that their collection did not reflect the diversity in their communities, there was no empirical data to support this. The Library realized that information collected about the diversity of the collection would help to create a collection reflecting the community. In 2020, the Contra Costa County Library set out to design a comprehensive audit of the diversity of its physical collections, using both tools from vendors and an in-house designed survey. Completed in 2022, the methodology, process and results of the audit revealed the challenges and benefits of looking at the diversity of a large collection and the results provided a blueprint for future collection audits and more informed collection development decisions. This presentation will cover how the Library designed the audit and what was learned.