Week 14 - Prompt Response
Collection Management Decision
LGBTQ & Urban Fiction - Incorporate or Separate?
Were I in charge of this collection management decision for my hometown library, I would choose to incorporate LGBTQ and Urban fiction into the already established collection. The following are the main reasons for my decision:
- Even with the best of intentions (in this case, wishing to draw positive attention towards these potentially 'lesser well-known' genres and their authors), separating them from the main collection could have unintentional negative effects. Specifically with the LGBTQ genre, separating, and effectively putting a spotlight on it, could cause unwanted attention upon patrons who wish to browse and/or discover such titles. For example, what if a patron is still unsure of, or discovering, their own identity and wants to explore LGBTQ titles/authors, but is hesitant or afraid to be "caught" openly interested in the genre? Or, in the case of a small, rural public library, regardless of the patrons' identity, they could be unfairly judged by others, purely from being seen browsing and/or selecting from these genres, were they separated from the main collection.
- Separating these genres from the already-established main collection could confuse patrons (whether long-term or new to the library) as to where to find items, even if the items and displays are properly labeled and cataloged. Labeling and cataloging errors happen, as well as patrons potentially not being as observant or correctly making note of the information the catalog provides (I've been on both sides of this!); patrons could know the author of a book, but not realize they belong to the LGBTQ or Urban genre, and immediately go to the main collection section in search of the item, which could be a cause of disappointment/frustration/annoyance if they don't find what they were looking for. Also, some patrons might not be inclined to ask a staff member for help, or just assume if they didn't find what they were looking for (in the place they assumed it to be), they might give up the search entirely, which would be a lose-lose scenario: the patron would lose out on experiencing a potentially new-to-them genre or title, the library would lose in having the patron leave not fully satisfied and the item(s) in question not being experienced by an interested individual.
- Again, using a small, rural public library as my example, another concern with the decision to separate the LGBTQ and Urban genres would be more mundane, but still important - that of physical space within the library. Even if a library were to successfully argue for separating these genres, and were granted approval to do so, it must have adequate space to create new sections and shelving to implement this change. If drastic changes in library layout had to be made, in order to make the room for these new genres' spaces, there is a potential for sacrificing space and/or items, which could negatively affect patrons' library usage, or items they would have (or continued to) make use of.
That being said, I am an advocate of keeping library spaces/displays/items fresh and dynamic (even being one who personally, immensely enjoys routine and the comfort of the status quo!), and would hope that by creating new item areas and displays, it would enhance patrons' library experience, and hopefully expand their reading horizons. However, I also believe when making important decisions, such as this collection management concern, it is imperative to look at all sides and consider pros and cons, playing 'Devil's Advocate' as it were.
Having these genres incorporated into the main collection does not mean that creative (and frequent) displays should not be made throughout the library - they absolutely should!! Making use of displays in this way is a great opportunity to catch patrons' attention, highlight genres and authors, but also allow the main collection to remain as a north-star kind of focal point for all fiction titles.
Hi Maryanne! We have similar feelings on this topic, and I like how you point out that separating the sections may make questioning patrons wary of browsing the collection. I found it interesting in the Tarulli article that the teens (including some conservative) agreed "Gender and Identity" was a noncontroversial name for the section. While this article was from 2018, I feel like those words are very charged in today's culture and could definitely cause censorship issues.
ReplyDeleteHi Maryanne! In my response, I thought that it would be easier to separate Urban but not LGBTQ. However, you were working from a small, rural library, and I work at an urban library. It's interesting to think about how the settings of the library could affect this decision! I also really liked what you said about displays. I work on the displays at my library. While we sometimes single out a group of people with our displays (we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, Pride Month, and Black History month for example), we have a policy to aim for a 40% diversity ratio for the books we select. We work really hard to find books that might not be picked out of the collection or have a lot of circulation. It's a really important way to highlight diversity in the collection!
ReplyDeleteI love that you brought up the challenges that these additional separations can cause the patrons! Especially in the case of having to have that extra step of asking a librarian where to find a book. That extra layer of search can really turn some people away, and I think it's important we remember that when making categorization changes!
ReplyDeleteHi. I like the points you brought up especially the one regarding privacy. I didn't even think of it but you're right. It might make someone who might be uncomfortable not want to browse the collection. I felt the same way you did about a member not finding a book in the expected section. Some people still don't want to approach the information desk.
ReplyDeleteVery well thought out points! Great response!
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