Branching out into immigrant neighborhoods : how public libraries distribute community resources to meet immigrant needs

Abstract

Local organizations play a critical role in providing access to resources and opportunities for those who are low-income, socially isolated, or marginalized. This is especially true for immigrants in the United States, where support with integration falls almost entirely on local organizations. Immigrants are more likely to live in poverty; yet, they are accessing the social safety net less for fear of discrimination and deportation. This research asks how one type of local organization, the neighborhood library branch, distributes resources to immigrants across urban neighborhoods and how neighborhoods shape organizational resources. I approach this research through a mixed-method study of the Boston Public Library and its twenty-five neighborhood branches that relies on participant observation, interviews, and the analysis of archives, texts, and public library data.

The first part uses an immigrant integration framework to examine how neighborhood branches contribute to English language learning and political, economic, and social integration. I address how immigrant services align with neighborhood needs and to what extent immigrants access these resources. I find that institutional resources are well targeted to immigrant neighborhoods, but community resources are more effective at reaching immigrants and provide intangible benefits that are tailored to neighborhoods. A reliance on community resources, however, can exacerbate inequalities across neighborhoods. The second part of this research addresses how the neighborhoods in which neighborhood branches are located shape library resources through 1) expressed community needs, 2) level of volunteerism, 3) cultural sharing practices, and 4) organizational partnerships.

Whereas scholars have addressed the question of how organizations provide access to resources for marginalized populations by looking at the geographic distribution of organizations, institutional funding, and brokered resources, this research asks 1) how neighborhoods shape organizational resources and 2) what factors, beyond geographic proximity, affect access to resources. The findings from this research have implications for how scholars and planners conceptualize and identify organizational resources at the neighborhood level. Additionally, this research offers lessons for what practices local organizations and government agencies can adopt to reach immigrant communities at a time when immigrants are becoming increasingly fearful of accessing government institutions, public benefits, and public spaces.