Board of Trustees Diversity Statement

The Naperville Public Library Board affirms that the Naperville Public Library (“Library” or “we”) serves everyone in our community. We pride ourselves on fostering an atmosphere of diversity and inclusion, where we strive to make everyone in the community feel welcome. We reaffirm our commitment to promoting a culture of empathy and kindness through access to information and education. We support efforts to ensure historically marginalized communities feel included and represented, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion, ability, and other lived experiences. We aim for our services to provide opportunities for all community members to see themselves reflected and to learn more about the lives of others.

The Library continues to explore opportunities that demonstrate our commitment to increasing awareness and promoting conversations regarding diversity by providing a variety of resources and advancing community involvement. The Library is an evolving organization committed to listening to community members, being open to suggestions, and evolving our services to make them more inclusive. If the Library and our community respectfully listen to and learn from each other, our persistent efforts will serve as a catalyst for positive change. 

Examples of Activities in the Community to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Some examples of the Library’s current activities in the community to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion include:

  • Maintaining a comprehensive collection of multi-format materials for children, teens, and adults featuring a wide array of characters, subjects, languages, authors, and illustrators with differing perspectives
  • Supporting the intellectual freedom for everyone to read and view materials of their choice, and resisting calls to censor materials and viewpoints
  • Offering reading recommendations relevant to our diverse community, including, but not limited to, diversity, racial justice, equity, race, religion, ability, gender, and sexuality
  • Providing varied programs, including story times in multiple languages, and cultural and historical events for adults
  • Improving accessibility in building spaces and online resources
  • Working with the City of Naperville and the City’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Manager on community-wide efforts
  • Working with community partners including the Naperville Police Department, Naperville Park District, Naperville Community School District 203, Indian Prairie School District 204, Naper Settlement, Dementia Friendly Naperville, Literacy DuPage, and others
  • Supporting the Library Executive Director’s service on the Naperville Chamber of Commerce’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

Relevant Quotations

  • “I am stronger because you are stronger. I am weaker if you are weak. So we are more alike than we are unlike.” - Maya Angelou 
  • “Libraries are so much more than storehouses for books. They are crucial pieces of social infrastructure. Social infrastructure, as the sociologist Eric Klinenberg defines it, is the kind of infrastructure that facilitates human connections, interaction and civic engagement — places like parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, museums — and, of course, libraries. Libraries provide services and connective fiber to a wide range of people of across genders, races, ages and income levels, housed and unhoused alike.” – Richard Florida and Brooks Rainwater, Bloomberg Magazine

Additional Information