Week 14 Prompt: Collection Management Committee Scenario

Personally, I don’t like separating subgenres from the overall genre section. I have dealt with similar requests in the Youth Services Department at my library. The requests that we have gotten mostly consist of specific families wanting a “Christian” section. To date, we have told them that we cannot represent only their religion in its own section and not all other religions and beliefs, and lead them to the nonfiction area that houses all our youth-level religion books. That being said, I would follow similar regulations for the situation described in the prompt. My decision would be to keep all of the sub-genres under fiction. My reasons for this are as follows:

1. In order to stay neutral, libraries should not cater to one group or the other. If my library were to separate out LGBTQ fiction into its own spot, then we would have patrons whose beliefs don’t align with the LGBTQ community sumbitting reconsiderations left and right. It is extremely important as librarians to remember to keep personal views out of the public’s eye. We are not in this industry to sway beliefs of people, but to give access to knowledge and materials for no cost. 

2. Another reason not to separate them from fiction is because libraries are not bookstores. There have been talks within my library about trying out the bookstore style of shelving, which would focus more on topics and genres rather than generalized collections. This conversation has started to arise so that patrons “can find items easier”. This belief of them being able to find things easier comes from multiple instances of patrons not knowing how to look for things in alphabetical order. Because the library is a place that is meant to facilitate learning, we should not be making it easier for patrons in this way, but rather we should be actively teaching them how to find items within an alphabetical order or within the dewey decimal system. This may not be a concern for every library, but my community specifically has an average reading and comprehension level that would be aligned within the range of what fourth to sixth graders are expected to know. 

3. The third reason I would decide not to separate them from the general fiction collection within my specific library is space. We hardly have space for the collections and shelving that we already have. We definitely do not have space to add shelving for certain sub-genres to have special locations. If we were to experiment with it and try to give each topic or sub-genre its own special place, then things would become even more jumbled, confusing, and difficult to find.

However, I think that there are some other ways that we can offer to recognize these materials. Going with an alternative route allows for more topics and sub-genres to be highlighted and found. Some suggestions for this are as follows:

 

1. Create a unique sticker for certain sub-genres or topics. This could contain a small picture or just the word urban or term LGBTQ. Putting a sticker on the spine of a book would allow patrons to browse the fiction collection and find books within these sub-genres on their own. Alternatively, colorful dot stickers can be used overall to locate a variety of sub-genres. The key for the colors can be posted on each self-end, so that patrons can always refer to it. Using stickers would be an easy enough solution because they could always be removed or changed, if need be. 

2. Create book lists for desired topics and sub-genres. If a patron comes asking where they can find LGBTQ fiction books, then a staff member can hand them the pre-made booklist, and show them to the general fiction collection. Staff members are always available to help further if needed. The book list sheets can have a picture of the cover, buzz words for the book, and even explain how to find the book in the general collection. 

3. Create and utilize shelf readers. Shelf readers are extremely useful and could alert someone who is browsing the shelves that there are LGBTQ titles in the area. These are easy enough to make, or find pre-made, and move or replace. 

4. Create and utilize displays. Displays are one of the easiest ways to help market specific items to patrons. If there is a rise in numbers of patrons wanting urban fiction and LGBTQ fiction, then it is the perfect time for staff members to create displays for those topics. They take up much less space, can be more interactive, are not permanent, and can help with circulation numbers based on which books are placed on the display. For example, if there are books within the desired topics and sub-genres that have low circulation numbers, then those should go on display.