Embracing the cultural identity of burgeoning ethnic groups in regional public libraries: A pilot project with the Punjabi Indian community in the Riverina

This final report to the State Library of New South Wales describes the research project ‘Embracing the cultural identity of burgeoning ethnic groups in regional public libraries: A pilot project with the Punjabi Indian Community in the Riverina’ and its findings. The project aimed to promote and embrace one burgeoning ethnic group’s cultural identity through Wagga Wagga City library services in the Riverina region, New South Wales. This equitable and culturally inclusive approach sought to address the collection and services offered to Punjabi Indians by introducing a collection of books, resources and community activities to serve various age groups and interests based on the Punjabi community’s input. This report describes the participant responses to each facet of the project and draws heavily on the description of the survey responses from participants to ensure their choices for books, resources, community activities and experiences are featured. Each research question is answered, and a set of recommendations and suggestions based on participants’ survey responses are included for consideration by the State Library of New South Wales. This report completes the third phase of the three-phase project in Wagga Wagga.