The majority of librarians feel it is “very important” to have a book collection representing different points of view, according to responses to SLJ's Diverse Books Collections Survey. While the profession is overwhelmingly white (90 percent), there is almost no difference between the answers from librarians of color and white librarians when it comes to the importance of curating a diverse collection.

Looking at the numbers by type of library shows that public librarians are more likely than school librarians to say it is very important. Within schools, high school librarians are most likely to think it's very important, compared to their colleagues educating younger students.

Breaking down the numbers by location, librarians in this sample from the Northeast are most likely to say diversity in their collection is “very important,” which is interesting, because their communities are described as the least diverse. Urban and suburban librarians are more likely to see the importance of diversity than small town or rural libraries.