Considering Building a Collection? Consider Civic Engagement First.

Joshua Chacon

Wray‐Lake, L., & Abrams, L. S. (2020). Pathways to Civic Engagement Among Urban Youth of Color. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 85(2), 7–154. https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.12415

Summary:

Pathways to Civic Engagement Among Urban Youth of Color by Laura Wray-Lake and Laura S. Abrams is a 154-page monograph detailing youth perspectives on civic engagement and related social and political topics. Within this text, the authors focus on civic engagement and empowerment, marginalized youth perspectives on social, cultural, and political issues, and the consistent disempowerment of youth of color within the context of a white dominated society. The monograph is extremely dedicated to exploring its single core question, which is clearly stated by the researchers: “What does civic engagement look like and how does it develop for urban youth of color living in high poverty neighborhoods?” (Wray-Lake & Abrams, 2020, p. 10). Despite the evidence of continued marginalization of minorities within Rochester, New York, and the historical context given in chapter 1, the researchers take a nondirectional approach with their thesis in order to explore factors that both hinder and promote civic engagement: Assets, opportunities, and personal experiences affect youth of color’s civic engagement and their perspectives on local and federal political and social issues.

My Comments:

The qualitative methods used in this monograph have great foundational opportunities for evaluating library services and programs. Firstly, the qualitative analysis within the monograph is a collaborative effort between youth and the researchers, often balancing conclusions and insights from both parties in order to solidify ideas. Libraries can benefit from this because it empowers youth voices, granting them weight in library decisions. Secondly, the insights given by the researchers often highlight the importance of “informal engagement.” Libraries could create spaces to explore these types of expressions and begin hosting more youth-led initiatives and activities. This could also lead to new programs that help increase and study these types of youth behaviors, learning new ways to identify the indicators “that would provide data about observable behaviors and conditions” (Wray, 2012, p. 50).

One thing to be wary about concerning this methodological approach is the limitation of sampling. Much like youth centers, libraries will have youth who are already engaged in some civic participation. This is a safe assumption considering that youth who willingly participate within civic institutions must have more motivation to be civically engaged. Libraries’ outreach strategies must tackle the participation gap by reaching out to individuals who are disconnected civic institutions.