Library Workers’ Perspectives on Participatory Community Engagement with Immigrants: An Exploratory Sequential Mixed‐Methods Study

ABSTRACT Libraries have been serving immigrants since the early 20th century in the United States. Despite this long history, library services to immigrants have not evolved much beyond the traditional set of language‐learning programs, often criticized due to the perceived low relevance of the resources and lack of accessibility. To address such a disconnect between intended users and provided services, libraries have adopted participatory methodologies, especially when working with historically marginalized communities. Zooming in on the precise intersection of U.S.‐based library workers’ experiences of employing participatory practices in their work with local immigrant communities, this mixed‐methods study aims to create an overview of a library‐immigrant community participatory network that shows how distinct stakeholders are related and influence the process as well as the outcome of effective community engagement efforts from the library workers’ perspectives.