Reference, Instruction, and Outreach (RIO)

The group met  to continue discussing the 2020 Census and what they and their libraries were planning in preparation for it.

Three members of the League of Women Voters participated in the meeting to share information on helping libraries assist the public with the census.

Discussion focused on how to reach/aid underserved populations and those who may be hesitant to participate in the census. Also discussed were security for personal information for the census, advertising the census, and groups that may be hard to get to participate (such as immigrants and refugees, those with low literacy, and those whose primary language has not been included in this year's census materials).

Information from the Digital Census Preparation Training Workshop on January 16th was shared, along with extra copies of the manual. The pdf of the manual can be found at:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lW1UAdJosf_EIY2xVQ1atK93btz0omR-/view

Also shared was the website for Areas to Receive 2020 Census Paper Questionnaires First:

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2019/contact-strategies-viewer.html

ALA has also provided a guide to the 2020 Census for libraries:

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/govinfo/Census%20Guide%20Update_Jan2020.pdf