Thus far, my research is going well. I feel like I’m learning a lot, both by doing a lot, and also through sitting in on meetings and being able to observe the research team work. Recently, the team submitted a grant proposal which is a skill I’ve never been able to work on as any funding I’ve looked for has been on a much smaller scale. While working on it, the team zoomed to discuss and write the grant together which was a really unique experience. Beyond that, I’ve gained more experience and become more comfortable with quantitative research which has been helpful, and also at times, a challenge.
I think my social identity is extremely impactful in this project. I always gravitated toward quantitative methods, particularly archives and oral histories, because they felt more personal or that the human element stood out more. However, in working on this project, I can tell it’s not only personal to the researchers working on this project, but it’s also to the survey respondents. To me, libraries feel like highly personal spaces as they are spaces of learning and community building, as well as a hub for community resources. Ensuring their programming is adequate or wishing for the library to continue as a staple of the community isn’t a pursuit driven by money or other gains but by a deep love and respect for the community it serves. All of this is to say, that I think it requires equal examination on my part of my own identity and how I interact with libraries too. I am a white researcher studying Black History Month programming in public libraries and thus need to ask myself how I too have interacted with library programming and whether my assumptions about good programming or programming in general are informed by my own experiences in generally suburban and overall well-funded libraries. For example, much of our study is interested in rural libraries which have unique challenges characterized by a small staff, smaller circulation, sometimes a more conservative community, and a very small (or sometimes non-existent budget). Going in to the project, I probably would have said that all libraries need to do Black History Month programming above and beyond a book display, and while I still think this is the case, I see that there are challenges to putting on successful programming unique to these types of libraries.