At first, I was all for having a separate collection of Urban Fiction and LGBTQ+ books, but the
more I thought about it and read about it, the more I changed my mind. One reason why I
agree with having it separate is for the ease of finding novels. We get asked daily where
Urban Fiction is located in our library, and we do not separate it unless it is a main category.
We created a book list for Urban Fiction by author and title, which has helped tremendously in
finding those books on Urban Fiction. However, after reading the articles on the shelving
debate caused me to change my mind.
One reason is the othering of the collection. For example, in Yorio & Ishizuka (2018) article Melissa McBride writes, “I do have a problem with students feeling “other” by having to go to that shelf, but until a better solution presents itself, it is what we are working with,” (p. 2). Another reason to keep them together is that the separate section can be
judgmental and may create anxiety by having their peers see them in the
separate section, especially if they are not ready to tell the world that they
are LGBTQ+. Another problem with school libraries is that librarians are
worried about the parental reaction to those books that LGBTQ+ separates. For
example, libraries have put these books on LGBTQ+ in the parenting section to
avoid complaints (Yorio & Ishizuka, 2018, p. 3). Lastly, with Urban Fiction, the problem is
that we are separating them from the rest of the collection, and therefore, by
connection to the people they represent, they do not belong with the rest of
the collection, a parallel to shelving titles separately (Yorio & Ishizuka,
2018, p. 3). It doesn’t create a welcoming atmosphere in the library when
patrons have to find their books in a special separate section or only on
displays. I agree with having a diverse
library for everyone. And that involves not having the library separate these
sections. I think we should not separate them due to both racism and
homophobia. For these reasons, I think they should not be
shelved separately but in the fiction section, with the other books awaiting
discovery.
References
Yorio, K., & Ishizuka, K. (2018, October
26). Shelving debate: To separate or integrate?. School Library Journal. https://www.slj.com/story/shelving-debate-separate-or-integrate
As someone who works in a library where I have never been asked for Urban Fiction is, it is really interesting to read about a different perspective. I think that making a list is a great option for your library if you are not planning on separating them out. I agree with your thoughts about keeping these books as part of the general fiction collection, and love what you said about "awaiting discovery." You never know who might stumble across a book if they're all shelved together!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! We really want to try not to subconsciously tell patrons that a certain genre or collection is beneath the rest of the collection, which would likely be achieved if they were shelved separately.
ReplyDeleteHi Brenda! I like how you pulled another article to support your argument. That looks like a good one (that I'm going to have to look at too). You present very valid arguments for NOT separating those formats. One I hadn't thought of is what you said here: "Another reason to keep them together is that the separate section can be judgmental and may create anxiety by having their peers see them in the separate section, especially if they are not ready to tell the world that they are LGBTQ+." We don't separate these formats at my library, but we do have a LGBTQ+ book list that anyone can discreetly snag if they need help paring down and/or identifying their choices.
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