Mission Statement

Our Mission is to leverage Multnomah County Library’s platform and resources to preserve and strengthen black communities.

Charter Statement

The Black Cultural Library Advocates (BCLA) team is the leadership team for services to the African and African American communities at Multnomah County Library. We collaborate and work across the system to create culturally relevant programming, reconnect our community to the library, outreach outside branch walls, and advocate for the Black community. We work with branch managers and stakeholders as needed to ensure the library's fulfillment of our information service goals. We are guided by our vision, the library's strategic priorities and service principles and we partner with community agencies and organizations.

Case for Action

The library's 2011 market research about its audiences revealed that only 2.5% of 26,000 survey respondents identified themselves as African American - while the percentage of African Americans in Multnomah County is 5.7% according to the 2010 census. The data clearly reveal that that the library is underused by this community and that barriers to library use are demonstrable. Although African American KSA staff have been hired, intentional programming (such as Black Storytime) has increased and has begun to remove these barriers and perceptions, the employees and their work at present lack cohesion. A formal team was created to provide support and guidance for community engagement work.

Charter Statement: The African American KSA team is the leadership team for services to the African and African American communities at Multnomah County Library. We collaborate and work across the system to create culturally relevant programming, reconnect our community to the library, outreach outside branch walls, and advocate for the Black community. We work with branch managers and stakeholders as needed to ensure the library's fulfillment of our information service goals. We are guided by our vision, the library's strategic priorities and service principles and we partner with community agencies and organizations.

Expected Workload

The team will meet quarterly for 2-3 hours as needed. Meetings will be facilitated and recorded by staff members on a scheduled rotation. Minutes, discussions, and documents will be kept in a shared Google Folder.

• Staff meetings will focus on building staff skills and knowledge around our library's priorities:
• Excellent customer service
• Early literacy
• Success in school: support for k-12 learning
• Advocating for more positions with AA KSA designation
• Facilitating civic engagement
• Resource in economic crisis