Allocating Limited Library Resources to Linguistically Diverse Communities: How Can the Superdiversity Concept Help?

In linguistically superdiverse cities, public service providers need to provide information, resources, and services in multiple languages. This affects a wide range of sectors, such as transport, health, education, and also libraries. In large cities, particular languages may be more commonly spoken in some districts than others, and the language profile of districts may change over time due to demographic mobility. In public libraries, collections of language-specific resources contribute to serving the community’s literacy and educational needs. Data-informed decision making can help identify which languages should be prioritized for the scarce resource allocation. This study analyses linguistic diversity at the district level in the superdiverse city of Auckland. Using customized census data, I take language as the primary indicator of diversity and examine the linguistic profile 63 districts in the Auckland region between 1996 to 2018. I identify districts that are linguistically super- or highly diverse, districts with high homogeneity, and districts where the level of linguistic diversity is either stable or shifting, and I identify which languages most contribute to the diversity profile of the respective districts. Finally, I formulate data-informed recommendations to demonstrate how these results can support decisions concerning the allocation of library resources and services in community languages.