Weirdly enough--or maybe not so weird--the specific use of "illegal immigrants," a term used to dehumanize and deny agency, was a very large sticking point and on July 10, 2016, the LOC was ordered to continue using that subject heading. Many libraries across the country began creating their own subject headings to bypass this and, as of today, right now, the term is still very much in use within the LC Catalog.

But, the only way for libraries to be a place where the entirety of the community is welcome, is to understand the community in its entirety. And this isn’t something that’s necessarily going to be easy.  Librarians have to get to know the people in their communities. All of the people. They have to understand their patrons, and potential patrons and make sure that the library is a place where everyone feels that their needs are being met. 

The inherent problem is that these statements are being grafted onto a framework that is steeped in white supremacy and has been for decades. Diversity statements cannot just be attached, like a rider that no one actually reads.