Episode 4: Advocating for Marginalized Community Through Outreach with Star Khan

In this episode, we talk with Star Khan, Outreach Services Librarian at Driftwood Public Library, about outreach as a core library service, how she sees herself and her work as part of a larger community, and the role that outreach plays in equity work. 

Since the recording of this interview, Star was elected as the incoming 2022-2023 OLA President, to begin in August. 

Date of Interview: May 18, 2022
Hosts: Max Macias and Kristen Curé

OLA EDI & Antiracism Toolkit: https://bit.ly/3qSMDF7

Transcript

 [Intro Music Playing]

Max Macias:                    
Welcome to Overdue: Weeding Out Oppression in Libraries, podcast produced by the Oregon Library Association's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Anti-Racism Committee.

Kristen Curé:                   
Today's episode is advocating for marginalized communities through Outreach, a conversation with Star Khan, Outreach Services Librarian at Driftwood Public Library. I'm Kristen Curé, Latino Services and Spanish Services librarian at the Springfield Public Library in Springfield, Oregon.

Max Macias:                     
And I'm Max Macias, an independent librarian living in Oregon.

Kristen Curé:                     
And we are just so, so honored and really, really happy to be speaking with Star today. Star Khan is the Outreach Services Coordinator at the Driftwood Public Library in Lincoln City. She's responsible for cultivating and maintaining relationships with community organizations, as well as finding ways to extend the library beyond its walls, taking the library services out into community and bringing them directly to people that need them the most. She provides services to seniors, home bound patrons, children, young adults, people experiencing homelessness, and the large Spanish speaking population found within her community.

Since joining Reforma Oregon in 2015, she has worked on the scholarship committee and the Libros for Oregon Project. Served as secretary and as the chapter president, Star is also heavily involved with the Oregon Library Association, whether it be advocating for equity and services for patrons and staff around the state, or in drawing in new members or serving on the board. And, Star, it is just such a pleasure and honor to be with you here today.

Star Khan:                      
Thank you guys so much. It's an honor to be here with you all.

Max Macias:                    
It is. Wow! You've you've been busy. Thanks for making time for us, Star. We really appreciate you being here. So we're going to start off with a little easy icebreaker question here for you. Please give us a couple of your favorite comic titles, graphic novels or comics, depending on what you like to read if you like that kind of stuff.

Star Khan:                          
Oh, I love comics and Manga. So, I'm kind of a dark reader. I like dark-y type things soI really, one of my favorite comic book arcs is the Batman: Death of the Family series where it's the return of the Joker and he comes back and he kills a member of Batman's family, Batgirl, members of the Teen Titans. It's one of my favorite series of comics. I also really love The Woods and October Faction and of course the Manga Death Note. I don't know if anybody's familiar with that, but my teen really got me into Death Note and it quickly became one of my favorites.

Max Macias:                     
Awesome. I love Batman, but the other titles I haven't heard, so thank you so much. That sounds really interesting. Are they all Manga, the other ones?

Star Khan:                          
No, they're all graphic novels.

Kristen Curé:                     
Well, thank you, Star. We're going to get started right at the beginning. How did you get involved with libraries?

Star Khan:                         
Well, I've been a long time library lover. I've been in libraries since I was a little kid. You know how friends got to go to their...you know...kids get to go to their friends' house when they're younger, or they get to go hang out at the mall. Well, I wasn't allowed to do any of that stuff. The only place where I was allowed to go and be on my own was the library. So I pretty much grew up in libraries. And then working in a library, you know I never actually thought that I was going to get here. I had tried for years to get a job in the Multnomah County Library System, but I didn't have the right qualifications at the time.

So I never actually thought I was going to get to work in libraries. But when I moved here to Lincoln City to be a teacher, they were hiring for  part-time CiircAssistant and I thought, oh, I could totally do that. And I got in. From there, it just like spiraled into this crazy, amazing adventure called Outreach that I've been blessed to be on for almost... I think I've been here nine years now.

Max Macias:                    
 Wow! That's awesome. Here's something, what do you love about your job?

Star Khan:                         
My favorite part of my job is the fact that it changes all the time. And that can be frustrating for some people, but I love it because it never gets stale. I love that I get to work with all sorts of different kinds of people from all walks of life. I get to hear so many amazing stories. I learn so much from so many different peoples. I love making connections between groups. So my Outreach brain really gets all excited when I'm able to make a connection between this organization and this organization. I find a way for them to work together and also tie in library services and make this a big collaborative effort. That's really like what I love the most about my work.

Max Macias:                     
That's beautiful. And what do you find challenging?

Star Khan:                          
The negativity, having to justify, I think, why I spend so much time doing my job outside of the library versus being in the building. I think it's one of the things that I...I don't like it. It's tough. It's tough trying to explain sometimes why the things you do are Outreach. It's like, well, you're giving away the... You have these books set up and you're just giving them away. How do you know they're being used? Well, when I come back, the shelf is empty and there are notes from people saying, "Thank you so much. If you wouldn't have brought these books, I would've had no way to come into town to get them."

                                             
And it's just...I spend a lot of my time justifying what I do, not even to, like, my boss, or sometimes it's to staff, but really it is, it's to community members that don't understand, "Well, why is Star going to this conference again? Or why is Star doing this when she should be in the library working?" But it's...people don't understand that there's so many different pieces to Outreach and there's so many different things that libraries can be doing that they can't necessarily do in their building. And so...I spend a lot of my time explaining to folks why it's important for me to do what I do.

Max Macias:                     
Wow! Super important. You're touching people's lives, like, every day. That's amazing. I got a follow-up question for you please.

Star Khan:                         
Okay.

Max Macias:                     
Okay. How would you define Outreach?

Star Khan:                     
I define Outreach as outside the box thinking in order to reach the most people as possible. Does that make sense? Did I even word that right? Yeah, that's how I define Outreach. To me, Outreach is finding a way, making that connection to be able to bring the resources that people need...to them. And you know, sometimes it's not traditional library services - aside from doing home visits where I bring people books and audiobooks and stuff like that - sometimes it's coming out and helping folks fill out an application for the state library's Talking Book Program. Sometimes it's advocating for my community during, you know, school board meetings and stuff like that.

Kristen Curé:                     
Oh gosh, Star, so great. Really just building upon this conversation, how do you see Outreach as fitting into the big picture of library services, alongside services that are seen as traditional library services, right? Like people think about circulating books or reference desk work, or even providing story times or family programming, like that people see as what library services are. But how does Outreach fit into that core of big picture library services?

Star Khan:                          
Libraries and librarians are unique creatures and places, and we have a lot of different styles and mentalities in different libraries and among different library staff. And I think that Outreach is so important. It fits into the big picture because it provides those library services to the community where they're at, but also it shows the library where we're lacking in house, so, can't imagine a world where there's a library without Outreach. And honestly, I can't imagine many professions without Outreach. I feel like Outreach is such a vital piece of, especially when we're doing like human services work, the kind of work that we do, I feel like Outreach is such a vital piece to be able to enhance whatever services that we already have.

Kristen Curé:                     
So to follow up to that, how is Outreach a part of equity work and why should libraries prioritize it?

Star Khan:                         
OK, so this is where I was going with the different mentalities and kinds of librarians that we encounter all over the place is...Outreach fills the gap. Outreach connects with the folks that aren't coming into the library, so I've encountered a lot of mentality around the country where, well, those folks that don't come into the library, they don't need the library. They don't need our services. They don't need anything from us. So we're good. If they needed us, they'd be here. And to me, that's not... Yeah, I see the reaction there. That's not equitable to me. Just because you feel like if they needed us, they would come. If you build it, they will come, and they don't, well, then they must not need us, that's not...that's not how I fly.

 I mean, underserved, underrepresented people, folks experiencing you know, houselessness, like the diverse ethnic cultures in our communities oftentimes do not flock to the library for services, unless they know that the library is a safe place for them to go. And not the library... I mean, luckily our library is, and a lot of libraries across the state are, but there are places in this country where libraries are not safe places for people to go. So Outreach is vital to be able to let the community know that we are here for you. This is your library. We want to provide what you need. We are your safe space for whatever you need. I think it's a huge part...If we really want to be equitable, we need to be reaching everybody, whether they come into our building or not.

Max Macias:                    
Word. Word. Yeah. I went to this library and they had like this minuscule Spanish collection. I was like, "Hey, what's up with your Spanish collection?" It's in a heavily agricultural area. There's a lot of Latinx people there and stuff, right? And they're like, "Oh, well, they don't come into our library." I wonder why, right? I wonder why. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you, Star. Here's another one, to follow up on that, how has Outreach changed since you began doing it, or has it changed?

Star Khan:                          
So, changed in my library or in general?

Max Macias:                     
Both, if it applies.

Star Khan:                         
Okay, so, in my library in particular, Outreach has changed from... I mean, it started before my time just as a part-time service to seniors. Outreach is now full-time, I've been doing Outreach full-time. We can...we serve anyone from birth to until they need us. I mean, I help people... I've worked with people on hospice. Outreach has gone from just providing those traditional book services to people to being able to do more. You need a CD player to listen to the audiobooks I bring you from the library? Here, let me help figure that out within my community. Oh, you need somebody to go with you and talk to this person about getting signed up for a library card? Yes, let me help you.

There are so many different ways. Outreach has changed. The mentality of Outreach has changed since I've began here doing Outreach at my library. Now, in general...I see...it's the same thing. Outreach has gone beyond just providing your books to the community. Because let's face it, a lot of people think that that's all we are. We're a building full of books, audiobooks, and movies. That's it. That's all we provide, and some people think that's all we do out in the community. But Outreach has turned into advocacy. Outreach has turned into compassion work. Outreach has turned into wellness. Like I had this great...I've been working with another community group where we did a series of mental health and wellness workshops that I got to participate in and I actually led one in the art of mandalas and meditating and stuff. That's all Outreach. So that's how Outreach has changed because we're looking...and Outreach has to change. That might be what it is now, but in five years, it could look completely different. And that's because that's what Outreach is. It's a changing thing. We just got to keep up with the times.

Max Macias:                     
What's your proudest accomplishment in the work with your community at Lincoln City?

Star Khan:                         
I was having a rough time with this one, because I couldn't think of which one made me the proudest. I think I'm really proud of the expansion of our Outreach program. When I got it, it was just... We were supposed to stay within city limits, but our Outreach program has now expanded, so I cover residents from Rose Lodge, which is a little town about seven miles north of us, all the way to Depoe Bay, which is another town about 10 miles to the south of us. I get to cover that area. I'm talking about visiting people up in the woods or like right on the beach. I'm really proud of the expansion that's come with this program.
 
I'm also really proud of the connections that we've made with our Latino community. We started our annual Día de los Muertos celebration, and that's something that's been gaining traction and people look forward to it every year. We're beefing up our Spanish language collections, and we're involved with Libros for Oregon, so it's amazing to be able to go down there and bring the books that people actually want. Like, we ask for folks. I take notes, and I come back with actual authors and titles and subjects...with people...that people have asked me directly for and I think those are some of the things that I'm most proudest of.

Kristen Curé:                     
Star, you already shared some of the big changes that you've made in the time that you've been in Lincoln City for serving the Latinx and Latino community. What do you think are three things that librarians can do right now to better serve the Spanish speaking and Latinx community?

Star Khan:                         
No more othering. We all understand what the othering means. Yeah, no more othering. I say this because I'm bilingual. But if I wasn't, I would still consider myself a part of the community and a part of every piece of the community. So, there's that thought that, "Oh, I don't speak Spanish. I can't help you. Or I'm a librarian and I sit up here and you guys are the community so I come down to you whenever I have the time." That kind of stuff has to go. That kind of stuff has to go. Be a friendly voice. Be a friendly face. I've noticed, you know, in my work around the country, oftentimes people, like, tense up or they have a change in facial expressions when Spanish speakers come up to them for help and it's just trying to keep that neutral body language. And talking to folks and talking to these librarians, it's their apprehension of not being able to help them, and so what I do is I try to work with them to show them that just because you don't speak their language, there are so many other things that you can do to be able to communicate with them and to find them some help, at least have them leaving feeling like they've been heard.

Kristen Curé:                     
Thank you. I'm trying to think the three things. No more othering, and that means like if you are serving the community, it's all of the community. We're all part of the same community. And that really applies for all different, like, sections of our communities, right?

Star Khan:                         
When I first started Outreach, they thought I was nuts, because I had a gentleman, his name was Heartbreaker, and I would meet him at the bus stop near one of our stores and he would take me to his camp. He was a gentleman that was experiencing houselessness in our community, and I started talking to him. He started watching me come make...you know...he started being there and talking to me every time I would come make my deliveries. And then we started talking about what I did and he started talking to me about books, so I started bringing him books, and then he would take them back.

But then he was like, "Hey, my friend so and so likes these kind of books," and it turned into this deal where he would meet me. He would take me to the camp. He would protect me and bring me back out, you know, back to wherever I had left the library van for this adventure. But...and he said to me, "I would never imagine that a person like you would take time out of your day to hang out with a person like me." And I couldn't understand. I still have a hard time understanding that person like me versus person like you, because I consider myself part of my community. I'm not higher than anybody else. It doesn't matter where we are. Like, I am your community librarian. So if that's where you need me, I'm going to go with you there.

Kristen Curé:                     
We're all people, and we're all here sharing this space.

Star Khan:                          
Right.

Kristen Curé:                    
Yeah. Thank you. The other things besides not othering is talking about body language, like being self-aware. So, we're all learning all the time. And so, even if we don't have the language skills to help a particular community member, just to be aware of our own anxieties, maybe our own challenges, and try to keep a neutral, maybe even, you know, like a friendly welcoming body language because there's other ways to help people. And then I guess maybe the third thing could be my next question is, what is your advice to English monolingual library staff on how to reach communities that don't speak English?

Star Khan:                         
 Oh my God, don't say, "I don't speak Spanish, so I can't help you." There are so many different tools. Like, when I first came here, I found this great list of library verbiage in Spanish for the staff to use. Nobody used it. But, you know, there are those tools available, even if it's typing into Google Translate what you're trying to say, "I'm sorry, there's not a Spanish speaker here right now," just to be able to communicate primitively like that with a person. Just find a way. That immediate like, "I'm sorry. I don't understand you. I can't help you." No. You have to find a way. I understand you cannot communicate with them in the same language, but as librarians, we need to find a way to communicate with people sometimes non-verbally, sometimes in other non-traditional methods. So, I've got one of my coworkers here. He realized that people would come in to the library and they would ask for me. "Estrella. Donde esta Estrella?" And they were...people would tell him, "Well, Star's not here." And he noticed that people would leave sometimes looking like really sad. So he's teaching...he's taking a Spanish class and learning how to speak Spanish so that he can be a point of contact for people if I'm not in the library, so people can feel like, "Okay, I may not have been able to come in to see Star, but I got to talk to somebody who understand what I needed."

He's been able to help a few people that, I mean, just needed basic library help, but they spoke Spanish and he's been able to help these people with his figuring out what to say. Sometimes he'll use Google Translate, but that's a huge, huge, huge thing. And for me as a person of color, as the only bilingual person on staff, it's a huge relief. It's like a weight's been lifted off my shoulders because my job is to be out of the library, but don't think that I don't constantly think about the people that are coming into the library looking for me that I'm not there to help. So knowing that I've got this backup here in the library is like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

So that's, I think something that I would really advise non-Spanish speakers is find a way, find a way, take a class, find a resource. Just find a way to connect with these folks so that they feel like they're being listened to and that this is a welcoming library and that this is their library.

Kristen Curé:                     
Thank you, Star. I think in other communities too, it's not just Spanish, there's other languages that people might speak. We can't learn all the languages, but we can be that same friendly face with that smile and be very welcoming and try to figure out how to help people find what they're looking for through gestures and body language and, yes, using online translation. It's going to be silly sometimes what you end up saying, because it doesn't always work.

Star Khan:                         
Right.

Kristen Curé:                     
Correct. It's not always completely correct, but it's...you're making an effort and that's what people see if you're being friendly and welcoming.

Max Macias:                     
That's awesome. Let's add some incentives to that, right? I saw that post by Matthew and the list about, what is that called, a differential for bilingual staff and like that kind of stuff, right? Because it shouldn't just be put on BIPOC or just the person that speaks Spanish, right? There should be multiple languages spoken at the library and that should be honored and really like just, you know, not the requirement, but like it should be honored, because that's just beautiful. That's a powerful thing to be able to speak to people in their own language. Even, I'm pretty monolingual. I don't speak Spanish, right? I'm Latinx, but I don't speak Spanish, but I know the basics of how to say hello and that kind of stuff, right? It's important. And I know how to say that in other languages too. It's really important. So people think like, how would you feel? I often wonder like how I would feel if I had to move to another country and I didn't speak the language, and... I would not do well. I would not...it's so strong and amazing, people I meet that, wow. Anyway, sorry, to digress.

Star Khan:                          
I guess that a piece of advice that I would give to admin is honor those Spanish language differentials. We don't have one. I've been doing... Yeah, we don't have one. Matthew has been my champion. He's helping me. We've talked...it's in negotiations with the union and we're hoping to get a language differential put in for our next contract, so fingers crossed, but,  I mean, advocate, honor that honorarium. Not only is it going to be an incentive to get more diverse bicultural folk in, but it's also going to alleviate the stress of your non-Spanish speaking or only-English speaking staff.

                                            
If they know that there's going to be people maybe coming in to be able to help these folks and help teach them how to engage and how to interact when they're not around, that'll be a huge relief. It really is. That piece is super important from an admin level to be able to not only be attractive to attract bilingual, bicultural people in, but to keep them as well.

Max Macias:                    
Amazing point. Thank you. Thank you. Here's another one for you, do you have any tips for engaging members of the community in EDI or anti-racism work in largely political conservative areas?

Star Khan:                          
My approach is always I want to have a conversation. Like, I legit want to understand what you're thinking and the rationality behind it. I really do. It drives me crazy when we've got these two differing, you know, opinions, and I don't understand your point of view and you don't understand mine. So, my approach is always to have a conversation. That doesn't always work. Some people don't want to have a conversation. Some people are set in their ways. Sometimes you just have to be loud and you have to keep pushing against those people that don't understand what EDI or anti-racism work is. You know, just...there's a library in Oregon and their admin has been very opposed to EDIA work.

In fact, they actually call it reverse racism. It's horrible. I have to give it to those librarians...I give major props to those librarians that are still there still fighting. Because in a situation like that, all you can do is literally be the squeaky wheel, the loud squeaky wheel, repeating over and over and over again what we're doing and why we're doing it and why it's important and why we're not going to stop. Sometimes that's all you can do. Sometimes the conversation piece does work. There's people right on the edge that really don't understand this EDIA stuff. They really don't understand systems of oppression, white privilege, but they kind of have the idea that, yeah, maybe I do have some privilege that I didn't even know I had.

There's a huge group of people like that that I'm learning. And so, they are just waiting for somebody to come and have those open conversations with them. Everybody knows where I stand and where I'm coming from, but people are comfortable coming to me and asking me questions about race, questions about all sorts of different questions. They're comfortable coming to me to have those conversations. So I think that's a super important piece in continuing to engage these folks, because then they take the information that they got from you and share it within the community. So they kind of help do the work for you.

Max Macias:                     
Yeah, for sure. Like, I like the common ground thing. Yeah, that's just...that's powerful. Thank you, Star. Really good stuff.

Star Khan:                         
I'm sure there's tons of people in town or around the state, they see me coming and they head another direction where they go, "Oh God, it's Star again." And that's okay because they know who I am. So obviously they've heard my spiel and, you know, they know where I'm coming from. I guess sometimes that's all that matters.

Max Macias:                     
Here's a follow-up question to that. I didn't ask you beforehand. It's just off the top of my head right now. What can libraries do to protect their staff who do EDI work? Because, you know, oftentimes it's from a situation from being like the squeaky wheel to a whack-a-mole right? Like you don't want to get whacked down. I mean, you want to be here for your patrons too, right? You don't want to be excluded from the library. You want to be able to serve your patrons. What would you say or do you have any ideas about that if you want to share anything like that?

Star Khan:                         
 I mean, what's been instrumental for me is I have a supportive director. I mean, from day one, if I received any push-back on certain things, she would push against them for me. She showed me my boundaries with my city admin, where I should push to and then where she can step into. Having somebody that supports you to do that work is instrumental. I got to tell you, four years ago when we went...I went to my first JCLC Conference, the Joint Conference for Librarians of Color. My director went with me and people were like, "Why is she going? She's white." I'm like, but she's going to learn.

And I personally felt like she was going to show me that I was important and the work that I did mattered, and that she is going to back me up continuing to do that work. So, I don't honestly know where I would be if I didn't have that support from the get-go. If you can't find somebody supportive in your library, at your admin level, wherever it might be, find some support because this kind of work can't be done all alone. It can't be done without having an outlet to get it out, to vent to somebody, to cry, scream, laugh, whatever. This type of work needs support. So if you can't find it in your library, and I'm sorry, guys, I know that happens...we're trying, we're trying to change that.

Because I really truly felt like, "Oh my God, you have a master's degree in library science? I'm going to take my teaching degree and go sit in the corner quietly because we're two different people." And I felt like that at first. I know, I know better now. But as a brand new person, especially a person of color, coming into this group that doesn't even...that we don't even speak the same language all the time, it was hard. So support, support, support, support. You have to find support. I'm always a friendly ear. I prefer talking versus emailing, but I'm here in whatever capacity you need.

Max Macias:                     
Awesome. Thank you so much. Everybody out there too, you all, you have the Oregon Library Association EDIA Committee, too. If you have to reach out and you don't have anybody, feel free to reach out to us please.

Star Khan:                          
And the State Library of Oregon.

Max Macias:                     
Yes.

Star Khan:                          
Yes. We can't forget about the state library. I mean, we're really lucky here in Oregon that not only do we have OLA, the EDIA Committee, Reforma Oregon, we've also got the State Library of Oregon, which are huge supporters of the work that we do every day.

Max Macias:                     
Completely agree. I completely agree. And that's a little bit related to the last question I have for you here. What are your plans about working with OLA in the future if you want to share anything? Or if you don't, that's cool too, but I thought I'd ask.

Star Khan:                          
Currently, many of you know, I'm the OLA secretary, but I am running for OLA president in the special election. So I'm hoping to be able to take that on and continue to grow and learn and do the things that maybe I've been hesitant to do before, because now is the time. But presidency aside, I always will see myself working within OLA with Reforma Oregon, doing work with the EDIA Committee. I love being on the legislative committee, the library development and legislative committee. I kind of really love that stuff. I see advocacy as like I get to argue a little bit and that kind of fires me up and I kind of like it.

I also would like to get involved in new member engagement. I think it's super vital for our success to be able to bring in this new wave of librarians. And I also would like to get more involved in the Outreach Committee for OLA, you know, if I have time.

Kristen Curé:                   
I was just thinking now like, oh my gosh, Star. That is...that is just really impressive and inspiring and exciting, but busy.

Star Khan:                          
Have to stay busy or I go crazy.

Kristen Curé:                     
Well we...here in Oregon, we're just so lucky...lucky to have you.

Max Macias:                     
Yes.

Star Khan:                          
I'm really lucky that I get to work with all y'all. Like I said, all of you, especially the four of you that are here right now, have been a support for me in one way or the other throughout my adventures in library land. So thank you. It does mean something.

Max Macias:                     
It means a lot that you chose to spend some time with this today. Thank you so much. I'm sure the audience will really appreciate it. We love you, Star. Thank you.

Kristen Curé:                     
Thanks so much, Star. This has been wonderful.

Star Khan:                          
Thanks, guys.

Max Macias:                     
All right, such a great interview. I'm so happy and so honored that Star is here with us. What were some of your takeaways, Kristen, from that spectacular interview?

Kristen Curé:                     
Yeah, thanks, Max. The thing that stood out the most to me, and I feel like it's a common thread to all of Star's work, is that we're all in this community together. She talked about how she saw herself as part of the community alongside with all of the people in her community. And that she was there to welcome and serve people no matter the barrier, right? Whether or not she spoke the same language, whether or not she had the same ideologies, whether or not people were in a different housing situation, you know, if they were in between permanent housing, she wanted everyone to feel that the library was for them. And that it didn't matter if a person hadn't entered the building yet, that it was their library and she was there to welcome them.

Max Macias:                     
Awesome. Yeah, I think that's an exemplification of diversity, equity and inclusion, Star is, I would say. Yeah. The community building stuff like Outreach is community building. Like that's one of the things that I got from this interview is like, it is community building and we're helping the community to realize that they're part of the library and the library's part of them. That they can work together. Even people that don't come to the library, right? She's taking the library to them. Right? And just "going to a camp story" is like really amazing to me because a lot of people would be scared to go to a camp. And like, it's a beautiful thing she's doing.

Her openness and her ability to treat people fairly and to have a genuine, like,  interest in what people are thinking and how they feel and how the library could serve them is just so striking and beautiful that...yeah, it just blows me away. It makes me think about other ways that I could outreach to people, promote the library, library services, and also, like, right, find out what people need, right? What are the user needs? Huge, huge deal. And how better to find out than to go and mix directly with the community? It's just...it's just a beautiful thing.

Kristen Curé:                     
Yeah, I agree. And building upon what you said, the other part that really stood out to me is that Outreach work is a core library service. Like, it's core to library work. And that Outreach work is also a necessary part and like a central part to equity work. so it's not this just extra thing that we do when we have time, but it's part of the basic. base level services that we provide as public libraries.

Max Macias:                     
Couldn't agree more. It's just...it's a major deal, Outreach, right? The word outreach used to bother me a lot. It still a little bit bothers me, because it gives a sense...it's kinda like...I sometimes think it's kind of like some sort of elitist thing, we're going to outreach to these people that need our help. It's not that. It's...it's...trying to communicate and really, like, communion with your community and figure out how the library can serve them and what they need and just not being afraid and not rejecting people either, right? Like, Star was like, "Yeah, I want to talk to everybody. Like, it doesn't matter the political spectrum, et cetera. Like I want to serve our community." And like that is just so, so beautiful and amazing. Like I keep saying beautiful and amazing, but, like, it's true. It's beautiful and amazing stuff. And it's really like...again, it exemplifies the ideals of why I got into libraries and what I love about libraries. Good stuff.

Kristen Curé:                     
Yeah. I am motivated after this talk to think about what I can do in my community. Star talked about finding a way to serve people where there were barriers. And I'm wondering if our listeners can think about part of their community that they might not be serving or that maybe they're not comfortable serving because of certain barriers and thinking about how they'll find a way to welcome and serve and to communicate with that part of their community, whether it's a language barrier or maybe it's a barrier that it's a group of people in the community that aren't coming into the library.

Max Macias:                     
Awesome. Thank you, Kristen. That's...and we'll leave you with that, audience. That's your challenge from us to you. Thank you so much.

Kristen Curé:                     
Thanks for listening.

Voiceover:                        
 Overdue: Weeding Out Oppression in Libraries would not be possible without the generous support from the Oregon Library Association and the State Library of Oregon, whose mission is to provide leadership and resources to continue growing vibrant library services for Oregonians. 

Voiceover:      
 We would like to take time to acknowledge historical injustices. We recognize Oregon was established as a white sanctuary state with the intent to exclude African American and Black people on ancestral lands stolen from dispossessed indigenous peoples. We recognize and honor the members of federally recognized tribes and unrecognized tribes of Oregon.

 We honor Native American ancestors, past, present and future, whose land we still occupy. This acknowledgment aims to deconstruct false histories, correct the historical record, and disrupt genocidal practices by refocusing attention to the original people of the land we inhabit, the slave trade enforced labor that built this country, and to the oppressive social systems interwoven into the fabric of our national and regional heritage. We ask that you take a moment to acknowledge and reflect as well.

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