H. Fucinari Community Analysis 1

Running Head: Community Analysis

Santa Ana Community Analysis

Heather Fucinari

San Jose State University, School of Library and Information Science

LIBR 266-12, Fall 2008 H. Fucinari Community Analysis 2

Santa Ana Community Analysis

Introduction

The city of Santa Ana, CA is a community that shows clear demographic trends via anecdotal evidence. A community walkabout reveals a large Hispanic population of lower income. Billboards, bus advertisements and store signage are in Spanish. Downtown Santa Ana, the home of the Santa Ana Public Library, is plentiful with dress shops specializing in formal dresses for weddings and Quincearas. There are multitudes of travel shops with Spanish only signs out front that advertise calling cards. Other stores include pawnshops, lower priced luggage, clothing, toys, and traditional Mexican restaurants. Vendors on street corners sell traditional Mexican treats from pushcarts while others attempt to hand out flyers in Spanish to passers-by. There are many schools ranging from elementary to high school surrounding the downtown area. The area seems to have an extremely high youth population. Children speak

Spanish with their parents, presumably because their households are Spanish-only speaking.

From this anecdotal evidence, a determination is made that the area surrounding the Santa Ana

Public Library is made of mostly first and second-generation Hispanic immigrants.

Background

The Santa Ana Public Library (SAPL) is charged with providing service to the entire city of Santa Ana. The library is not part of the Orange County Public Library system that has numerous branches serving the cities within Orange County. It not only has to provide service to its immediate community, but also must take into consideration the city as a whole-the ninth most populated city in California (U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, table

GCT-T1-R). This paper will analyze anecdotal and statistical data for Santa Ana, CA. This H. Fucinari Community Analysis 3 examination will reveal what the make-up of the community means to the collections of the

Santa Ana Public Library.

Santa Ana, which was founded by a Spanish expedition leader, was build using a Spanish land grant. The city is now considered the Orange County’s financial and governmental center

(City of Santa Ana, 2008, para. 1). Government buildings, including the Superior Court of

California, surround the area near the SAPL. An influx of lawyers and other government workers flood the downtown area daily. The burgeoning Santa Ana Arts District has recently been built up in Downtown Santa Ana, introducing a new demographic of artists and young upstarts.

Today, small galleries, higher end restaurants and pricey artist lofts speckle the otherwise low- income, Hispanic community. In addition to the aforementioned populace, the library is responsible for serving part of the smaller, but still significant Little Saigon district, which is largely Vietnamese.

Data Analysis

Statistical evidence shows the core make-up of the community the SAPL is responsible for serving. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a clear predominance of a Hispanic population that speaks

Spanish while at home. Second only to the white, English speaking demographic is Asian. This represents the large Vietnamese population present in Santa Ana. As figure 2 shows, the percentage of Asian speaking households is in line with the percentage of Asian population in

Santa Ana in figure 1. From this evidence, it can be determined that almost all of the Asian population is speaking their native language at home. This comparison means that a library should be providing materials in the language of that population; not just materials focused on that population that are written or recorded in English. Clearly, the library needs not only to H. Fucinari Community Analysis 4 provide a larger than average selection of Spanish language materials, but should also delegate a portion of the budget to Vietnamese language materials.

Figure 1. Santa Ana, CA by Race Figure 2. Language Spoken at Home: Santa Ana, CA White Black Hispanic Asian Other English Only Spanish Indo-European Asian 10% 10% 1% 1%

9% 17% 1%

78% 73%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey Although a conclusion is made that Spanish and Vietnamese materials must be purchased for the library, it is impractical to concentrate on all genres of materials equally. Although the

SAPL must service the entirety of Santa Ana, the library is located in zip code 92701. When age data is analyzed, especially in a lower income community, lack of transportation must be taken into consideration-for young or old. When a city has a younger population, it must take into account that they will be walking to the library. Thus, the data for age group is narrowed down to the zip code level. The median age of Santa Ana is 24.5, much younger than the U.S. average of

35.3 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000, SF1 and SF3). Figure 3 shows 42% of the service area of the

SAPL is under 19 years old, so a concentration in children’s and young adult (YA) materials should be focused on.

Education level of the city needs to be analyzed to determine scope of materials. Figure 4 illustrates the fact that a majority of the citizens of Santa Ana that are over 25 years of age have a high school education or less. The largest percentage has less than a high school education. As a H. Fucinari Community Analysis 5 collections developer, this information would lead to concentrating on helping the younger population by educating them to achieve a higher level than generations past. Aside from a concentration on children’s and YA materials, youth programs would also serve the community well. This is especially important when the children are going home non-English speaking households of a lower education level.

Figure 3. Age within Santa Ana Zip 92701

Under 5 5 to 14 15 to 19 20 to 34 35 to 54 55 to 64 65 and over

4% 12% 3% 21% 21%

9% 30%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 1

Figure 4. Education for population 25 yrs. and older in Santa Ana, CA

Less than high school deploma High School grad Some college Associate's Bachelor's Graduate/Professional

8% 3% 5%

13% 49%

22%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey H. Fucinari Community Analysis 6

The data collected about Santa Ana is a picture of immediate needs of the community. A library must also take into consideration community trends in order to serve needs of smaller niches of the city that could be on the upswing. The Santa Ana Arts District has been an emerging community in Downtown Santa Ana. However, a library should take a detailed look at evidence before re-allocating funds. According to the Santa Ana Arts District website (2008),

“Throughout the last 10 years the city of Santa Ana has experienced and incredible growth starting by a complete urban renovation, the construction of the Santiago & Main Street Lofts and the upcoming One Broadway Plaza Building just to mention some few projects” (para. 1). A look at data from the U.S. Census Bureau (2007) paints a different picture. Figure 5 shows growth has drastically slowed in the past 10 years in comparison to the previous decade. Also, the only demographic to grow is the Hispanic population while all others declined (City of Santa

Ana, 2008, Demographic Trends Data table). Furthermore, there has been a visible trend towards vacant and increasingly dilapidated housing for preexisting residential neighborhoods.

Figure 5. Population trends of Santa Ana, CA 2007 2000 1990 Populatio 339,555 337,977 293,742 n

Anecdotal evidence of the Santa Ana Arts District lofts show that many have remained vacant for well over a year. Many of the galleries seem to be closed most of the time, discouraging the natives and visitors of Santa Ana from taking advantage of the arts-let alone are moved to utilize the library for arts & recreation materials. A recent conversation with the owner of Rags, which was voted best newsstand by the OC Weekly (OC Weekly, 2008, Best of OC section), told a different story of growth. This shop is located just blocks away from the SAPL in the heart of the Arts District and caters to the wealthier and trendy population. The shelves were noticeably empty and he shared with me that his business was not going well (personal H. Fucinari Community Analysis 7 communication, November 19, 2008). As a collection developer at the SAPL, I would be hesitant to focus scant funds on this possibly waning demographic.

Impact on the SAPL

From analyzing anecdotal and statistical data for the community, a collection developer can determine the informational needs, wants and demands of the community. Children’s and

YA materials, including those in Spanish, should be foremost. Secondly, books, newspapers and audio-visual materials in Spanish and Vietnamese should be present in addition to those in

English. Spanish language adult materials should have a focus on immigration law and citizenship, English as a second language (ESL) materials and parenting. Tutoring programs for the youth population would also be helpful if budgeting allows. The library itself should provide multilingual signage, catalog navigation in English and Spanish and bilingual staffing to serve the reference and information needs of the patrons.

Collection developers should take into account other libraries that are providing for needs to avoid redundant materials. The Orange County Law Library and Forensics Science Service

Library are within blocks of the SAPL. These libraries meet the needs of the influx of lawyers that come to the city daily. For the city’s demographic wanting materials to meet the needs of higher education, the Nealley Library of Santa Ana College is within reach. The SAPL should consider these libraries when debating on meeting these other needs, wants and demands of the community.

Library staff should also reflect the needs of the community. In the case of the SAPL, bilingual staff is a necessity in order to properly serve its patrons. A potential library patron must H. Fucinari Community Analysis 8 feel welcomed and adequately served at the library. Without addressing these needs, the SAPL may find itself a relic.

SAPL Collection versus Community

Analyzing statistical and anecdotal evidence about the city of Santa Ana shows the SAPL should have a budget allocated towards the Spanish speaking community focusing on children’s and YA predominantly, in addition to English and Vietnamese materials. The following discusses how well the SAPL is meeting the needs of their highest demographic.

The mission statement of the SAPL includes the note, “Santa Ana is one of the 100 largest cities in the United States and its residents have the youngest median age in that group of cities. The Library emphasizes services to children and their families. Santa Ana’s Library staff reflects the cultural heritage of the community and each staff member tries to provide the highest level of customer service” (City of Santa Ana, 2008, para. 1). The library recognizes the large demographic of children, but has received criticism over its dedication to the mission. A Los

Angeles Time article notes, “In a community where 74% of residents speak Spanish, the library’s

Spanish-language book collection comprises only 10% of the books in its three branches. Other cities with large Latino populations devote as much as half of their collection to books in

Spanish, some entire branches” (Mena, 2002, para. 2). A walk around the SAPL shows only four shelving units devoted to Spanish language materials out of the two-floor library. Mena continues on Santa Ana’s budget, “It ranks 142nd of the 178 library systems in California in per capita spending. The library spends less per year on each city resident–$12.51–than the cost of a bestseller” (para. 7). Figure 6 shows total expenditure per capita as of 2005, which is only

$8.69, even lower than Mena’s 2002 statistics. The lower expenditure per person may be a result H. Fucinari Community Analysis 9

of even less total income for the SAPL since 2002. In addition, lack of attention by the Spanish

community to the library due to its lack of Spanish materials can result in lower budget for the

library.

Figure 6. Per Capita Statistics for Santa Ana Public Library Income/Collection Number Per Capita Total Income: $4,815,850 $13.69 Total Expenditures: $3,054,633 $8.69 Collection Expenditures: $432,431 $1.23 Total Circulation: 416,261 1.18 Children’s Circulation: 302,031 .86 Source: Public Libraries Survey, Fiscal Year 2005

The table also shows that children’s circulation makes up a large portion of the library’s

total circulation. Although the total percentage of Spanish materials is less than what it should

be, the SAPL is focusing its attention to children’s and YA materials as per the mission

statement. The library has 9/10 of the Top Ten Latino Books for High School Classes

(LatinoStories.com, 2007). Conversely, it only holds 30% of the winners of the 2006

International Latino Book Awards. The library seems to be focusing on the youth population and

high school curriculum more than the Spanish community as a whole.

The SAPL does provide database navigation in Spanish and employs Spanish-speaking

staff. Signs in the library are in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. The library only subscribes to

one Spanish newspaper, La Opinion, which is usually widely available on the street. Their

Spanish language journals are few as well. Adult materials do reflect the lower educated, Spanish

only speaking immigrant population by providing many ESL kits, U.S. Citizen Exam books and

other ESL multimedia materials.

The Santa Ana Public Library is making an effort to serve its Spanish speaking

community, but the effort is far from adequate. The library is under representing a majority of its

service population. Collection developers would do well to consult vital city statistics and re- H. Fucinari Community Analysis 10 allocate what little budget the city gets to concentrate on Spanish acquisitions. At 10% of the library’s total material, Spanish materials are still grossly under representing the population needs of Santa Ana. H. Fucinari Community Analysis 11

Reference

City of Santa Ana. (2008). Santa Ana, facts and history. Retrieved November 17, 2008 from

http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/facts/default.asp

City of Santa Ana. (2008). Social and demographic data. Retrieved November 17, 2008 from

http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/cda/Socialanddemographicdata.asp

City of Santa Ana. (2008). Santa Ana public library. Retrieved November 17, 2008 from

http://www.ci.santa-ana.ca.us/library/default.asp

LatinoStories.com. (2007). Top ten latino books for high school classes. Retrieved Novemenber

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Mena, J. (2002, August 25). Latinos finding nada on library shelves. Los Angeles Times.

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U.S. Census Bureau. (2006). American community survey. Retrieved November 17, 2008 from

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