Librarians have many tasks they must perform while engaging “truly professional activities dedicated to the performance of an essential and unselfish service to others” (Buchanan, p.32. 2001). No matter what type of library, whether in a special library, a university library, the public library or a children’s collection, an important task librarians have is the process of book selection. It is evident that over the year’s book selection has been increasingly difficult, with books being banned or not being selected because of personal beliefs or their idea of what is or is not appropriate for the general public. Librarians’ jobs have become all the more difficult especially with budget constraints. Even with these obstacles librarians still have the responsibility to provide the community with books that cover all walks of life and various topics and view points, resulting in a well rounded and cohesive library collection.
What is Collection Development and Obstacles?
As librarians it is our ultimate goal to develop and maintain a balanced collection of library materials through various formats such as books, online resources, and periodicals. According to the Library Bill of Rights “libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval” (American Library Association, 2008).
Other than the previously mentioned obstacles, there are a few others that influence diverse collection development. Funding can have a negative impact because libraries are not able to obtain certain books due to a limited budget. This is why it is important for library administrators to develop a plan that will allow them to obtain complete collections based on their proposed budgets and not buy random books that are irrelevant to their goal of a multicultural and diverse collection. A proper plan can aid in receiving future government funding if it appears that they are providing necessary information to the community resulting in funding having a positive effect on collection development. Community diversity is another obstacle. Large libraries located in big communities are typically comprised of more diverse cultures unlike smaller libraries and communities, resulting in the need to have books that cover the backgrounds of their patrons. Some may feel that libraries should house resources on various cultures and topics even if it is not something that the majority of patrons can relate to. Like teachers, librarians are supposed to provide students and users with information about the unknown. If patrons cannot access information about different cultures how will they learn about them?
Implementing a multicultural and diverse collection
In order to have a diverse collection, it is imperative that libraries have a written collection development policy, view the WSU’s Arthur Neef Law Library’s policy . The policy has four main reasons for being written: 1) Selection – provides guidance to library staff when selecting and deselecting resources for patrons to use. This will aid in preventing selectors from purchasing random resources and using their personal beliefs or individual enthusiasms during the selection process. 2) Planning – provides a good foundation for libraries when setting goals for the future. 3) Public Relations – the policy allows the library to provide goals amongst the staff/administrators and the patrons through the formal policy statement. As well as prevent criticism or censorship arising from special interest groups. The statement will provide the community with descriptions of the various collections, budgetary overview, and any formal or informal agreements that affect the collection practices. 4) Wider Context – cooperation amongst libraries within the same network to clearly state who is collecting what in order to provide adequate resource sharing locally and regional (Guidelines for a Collection Development Policy, using the Conspectus model).
When creating a library collection librarians should try to keep up with technology changes and not only offer multicultural and diverse books and periodicals but also diverse online resources. Diversity databases, such as Diversity and Multiculturalism , can aid in providing users with resources that contain international material relating to sexual orientation, national origin, race, religion, ethnicity, disability, age, and class.
It is through a multicultural and diverse library collection that librarians can indirectly exert a positive influence on the community they serve. Librarians know that there is no quick answer to developing such a collection. However by providing accessibility to various books, periodicals, and videos, the librarian is providing information that users can use to make informative decisions and not judge other cultures due to lack of knowledge.
Discussion Questions
1. What obstacles can you think of that effect diversity in collection development?
2. How important is a well written collection development policy? Do you have a collection development policy at your library?
3. Do you feel that personal views are a major catalyst when developing a library collection?
Sources:
*American Library Association. Retrieved April 6, 2008. http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=interpretations&Template=/
ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=8530.
*Answers.com. Collection Development. Retrieved April 6, 2008. http://www.answers.com/collection%20development.
*Buchanan, W. (2002). Developing Library Collections When Everyone Thinks the Internet is Everything…and Other Challenges on the Road to Diversity. Rural Libraries, 22, 31-40.
*Guidelines for a Collection Development Policy, using the Conspectus model. Retrieved April 6,2008. http://cc.msnscache.com/cache.aspx?q=72949648745618&mkt=en-US&lang=en-US&w=f7cd6be1&FORM=CVRE.
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23 comments:
1. What obstacles can you think of that affect diversity in collection development?
People tend to purchase what interests them or their patrons. They need to purchase a wider range of material. Material should be purchased on its merit, not out of personal interest.
2. How important is a well written collection development policy? Do you have a collection development policy at your library? The policy needs to provide guidelines for purchasing and maintenance of the collection. Without a proper policy, it is just chaotic, random purchasing. Having a plan in mind is much more effective.
3. Do you feel that personal views are a major catalyst when developing a library collection? Personal views can lead to exclusion of ideas without the actual intention of censorship. This can be detrimental to the integrity of the collection.
Libraries do have a real problem with collections for several reasons. however, i remember reading an article on parents brought in the libray to look at the children's section and what is provided for them. Some parents will not see what is wrong with horror or sexually explicit books because they do not do the talking. librarians can only do so much in filtering books during collection because it is not easy to get what everybody is ok with.
I think a well written collection development policy is important because it guides the librarian. it is more difficult to do collection with many different opinions. With a policy you go by it and have only your boss to answer to. Working with a guide is better than working without.
The library is a publicentity so I strongly object to personal views being a major catalyst when developing a library collection.
Sylvia, When developing a collection, personal interest should not be a factor however for many this is their idea of good book selecting. To help aid the growth of knowledge for library patrons a wide variety of books should be purchased. However some may feel it would be more cost effective to have books in the library that the community wants or are more interested in.
To prevent such erroneous book selecting a proper collection development should be in place. To prevent as you put it chaotic, random purchasing.
Njang,when developing a diverse collection, I think that there should be a committee that will review new selections to ensure that the librarian has followed the guidelines within the policy. If the final decision is left up to one person there is still a chance that the items could not be accepted because the boss feels that the book in inappropriate based on personal beliefs. The collection development policy is a good start but as with most policies, there are ways to go around the rules.
Collection development and diversity is an interesting topic. There will always be some degree of personal bias and generally this is good. Librarians should be qualified and knowledgeable enough to use their bias for the betterment of their collection. Unfortunately personal bias can also work against having a diverse and multicultural collection. The solution to this is education on the importance of multiculturalism and diversity in library school and continuing education at work. it is important that the potential user of materials and taxpayer understand that this is important or funding could be hurt or the materials may sit unused. The librarian must have continuous dialog and programming with his or her users. Auria Library in Denver held celebrations for diverse groups including Celtic, Thai, Persian and others, including the Church of Latter Day Saints. You can get your community to help organize these events and then they feel a part of the library, they get to know you and others in the community that they may not normally meet.
Althea Redd. "Diversity Programming in an Academic Library: The Auraria Experience". "Colorado Libraries" v. 29 no. 4 (Winter 2003) p. 26-9
Do you feel that personal views are a major catalyst when developing a library collection?
While I do think that librarians try their best not to have this involved when developing a collection, I think we all would be hard press to completely eliminate it. That is not to say that they still do not provide a wide range of pieces that make the collection multicultural, I just believe that it is a constant inner struggle that people in the profession face.
Tim that is a very interesting perspective. Getting the patrons involved so that they can learn more about the library as well as other cultures in the area. This also helps them as tax payers see where their money is going and how donating more could benefit the library collection. Patron involvement could benefit the library system in the long run due to endowed library funds. This type of funding could help collection development because donors can elect to have funds dedicated to a particular subject. Helping librarians to have better and complete collections of work in any given area. At the Penn Libraries, American Honda Motor Company has set up a fund that supports the purchase of Japanese books and materials for the local university library.
Personal views can be a major obstacle that affect diversity in collection development. It's human nature to want more of what you like than what you don't. Hence the importance of a well written and established collection policy. Hopefully the policy will provide guidelines for purchasing a well rounded and diversified collection to meet and expand a patron's needs.
1. What obstacles can you think of that effect diversity in collection development?
Funding could certainly be an obstacle. Librarians constantly have to decide where to allocate their limited resources.
Being located in an area that doesn't have a particularly diverse population could lead libraries to purchase fewer multicultural materials. Some libraries may also face political pressure to maintain their collections in a particular way.
2. How important is a well written collection development policy? Do you have a collection development policy at your library?
I don't work in a library, and the library system I use doesn't seem to have its collection development policy posted online. A well-written collecting policy can serve several purposes. It provides backup for library staff when patrons question items in a collection. It should serve to guide librarians to purchase items without bringing their personal interests and views into the decision. It could also provide goals or benchmarks for diversity in collections.
3. Do you feel that personal views are a major catalyst when developing a library collection?
I would think that patron interests and viewpoints would be of greater concern. Having a written collection policy could go a long way to help keep personal interests out of collections.
1. Collection development is not only limited by a closed mind, or inability to question the status quo, but also by the general set up of a library. During my library visit I asked the collection development librarian how many book companies he used for the GRPL main branch. They use ONE, mainstream, book company. Titles that are unknown, slightly controversial, or just not visible to most of society are often not available through these large booksellers.
2. I think it is important to have a good written policy. I also think a good policy will encourage librarians to use small and independent bookseller options.
3. The only personal views that should be a catalyst should be those that, as librarians, we all share: open access to ALL information.
As a person who worked in a library for a number of years in the acquisitions department of a library, I noticed that the book ordering process was solely done by the person who was the head of this department. Kimberly poses a great idea in terms of there being a review process to determine if the books selected to be ordered meets a library’s collection development policy requirements; this may ensure that the books chosen include multicultural material. Another idea may be for libraries to create a diversity committee in order to overall evaluate whether its book collections provide diverse prospectives. Or incorporate a diversity requirement in its collection development policy.
Do you feel that personal views are a major catalyst when developing a library collection?
Even the most well-intentioned librarian is swayed by their personal views. The most common may be to buy more of what you like or believe but some may try to overcompensate. For instance, if they are carry personal Christian beliefs, they may consciously limit their Christian collection while focusing more on Muslim, Jewish, Atheists views. In this case, their personal views have a direct impact on what they choose to order – even if it is the opposite. Having a completely equal and non-biased collection would be very difficult to achieve with only one librarian in charge of the ordering.
1. What obstacles can you think of that effect diversity in collection development?
As stated in the blog post, I think that funding can be a big obstacle to creating diversity in a collection. If a library is limited on funds to purchase materials, it would be difficult to use these funds to make a more diversified collection when it is very possible that many of these materials would never be used by the patrons. When do we draw the line with making a diverse collection and providing materials that our patrons will use on a regular basis?
Another obstacle could be personal opinion. If a collections librarian has strong beliefs about a certain type of people or subject, they may avoid purchasing books about this for a library. I think that this is an awful practice, but I'm sure that it happens. How would we approach someone about this if we saw it happening in our own library?
2. How important is a well written collection development policy? Do you have a collection development policy at your library?
I wasn't sure if my local library had a collection development policy, but I found it easily on their website. Here's the link: http://www.kdl.org/about/policies_materials_selection
I was impressed with it based on what I read on this post regarding these types of policies. It even mentions the ALA's Library Bill of Rights at the beginning.
What obstacles can you think of that effect diversity in collection development?
Some books may be purchased based on what the purchaser wants to have in the collection and not what is best for the library and the patrons.
How important is a well written collection development policy? Do you have a collection development policy at your library?
I honestly don't know if the library that I work at has a collection development policy. That would be a good question for me to ask.
Do you feel that personal views are a major catalyst when developing a library collection?
Yes, I think that it is just natural even though it should not be, for a librarian to pick books that they are intersted.
I think that there are many possible factors that could affect diversity in the collection, the first of which is the librarian's personal attitudes toward diversity. While the librarian should try their best to include materials that cover all different views and cultures, it is sometimes impossible to do so and the librarian must choose which books to include. This is especially hard for smaller libraries where they have so much less space and are forced to make many more difficult choices. A well written collection development policy can help in making these tough choices, but in reality the librarian will not be able to include everything. They must make decisions such as whether or not to include books on a certain culture that may not be well written over additional well written books on a culture or position of an issue that have been praised for their writing, but that the library already has some books on. No matter what the librarian's personal opinions are going to come into play and it is their responsibility to make sure they are following the collection development policy and attempting to represent all possible views as best as possible.
I'm sure the authors did not intend to indicate that community diversity is an ‘obstacle’ but rather can be a challenge—especially for those libraries and librarians who have not previously thought they needed to concern themselves with diversity issues. Diversity enriches us all. The United States would not have reached the level it has in terms of generation of new ideas and inventions in all fields as well as its cultural richness without the diversity of the many peoples who have come here and/or now feel free to express fully who they are. Some diversity has always existed. The difference now is that diversity is being recognized and valued. The business community came to this realization a number of years ago and libraries are increasingly embracing it as well. This is the paradigm for the 21st century, in a multilingual, multicultural, non-US-centric global village.
This reality needs to be incorporated into libraries’ values, mission statement and various policies such as collection development and human resources management. Otherwise, libraries are simply not doing the job that taxpayers are paying them to do. As professionals, librarians need to be aware of their biases and make sure any biases do not negatively impact the performance of their work, including collection development. A good collection development policy should assist in this regard. With respect to vendors of multicultural works, attending various LIS conferences is a great way to sample their wares and pick up a catalog of their products. In the meantime here are a few resources re: multicultural works.
http://www.sols.org/resourceSharing/pools/somp/vendors.pdf
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/diversity/Resources-Develop.htm
http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/diversity/Resources-Develop.htm#booklist
http://www.multiculturalbookworld.com/
I agree with many of you that personal beliefs will always sway a person to pick something that they are more interested rather than what is good for the general public. I think one way this could be resolved would be to do exercises where librarians would be in a library setting and try to find books on their culture only to realize there are none. This way they can see how other patrons would feel when other cultures are not considered during the selection process.
Dialog is very important in this profession because in order to meet the needs of the patrons you have to know what their needs are. So I think it’s great that the Auria Library in Denver holds celebrations for diverse groups. Thanks Tim U. for that info.
Jessica M. I understand your thoughts that areas with a small yet almost non-existent diverse community would not have many multicultural materials. However I would hope that the library would do interlibrary loans, that way if the need arises for a person to peruse a particular book they can get access to it.
Sarah I. that was in interesting point that you brought up about the collection development process at the library you visited. They only use one book company to obtain books. Maybe the reason behind this is funding, they could possibly be getting books at a cheaper price if they only use that selected vendor. However I would think that this would cause patrons to be at a disadvantage if they can’t get a hold of controversial or unknown books.
Tiffany C. you stated that in a library you worked in only had one person doing the ordering…did you ever notice favoritism toward a specific collection? I love the idea of a diversity committee. I was able to find one on U of M’s website, entitled Library Diversity Committee.
Beth I’m glad to see that you were able to find a link for your local library. My local library does not have one posted online and I do not recall seeing on in the library.
Thomas M., you brought up a good point about size being a factor for maintaining a diverse collection. Which is why I’m glad there’s MelCat. That way patrons can still have the opportunity to get books their local library does not have room for.
Catherine G., life would be great if we could get others to follow the many policies that are out there to develop a diverse collection. But as we all have stated, personal opinions many times get in the way of what’s right and what’s wrong. One thing that may sway a librarian is to think that if they are not fair about the types of books they select, then libraries could be known to “not doing the job that taxpayers are paying them to do” (Catherine G.). This would be a tragedy because I think that most people go into this field to provide the public a service of giving access to knowledge and if this goal is not being met then maybe we should rethink the process for collection development.
Thank you all for a great post.
How important is a well written collection development policy?
I believe a well written collection development policy is essential because it reflects the libraries devotion to access to information as well as a balanced collection that suits the needs of the community or school. The collection is a reflection of the libraries mission.
3. Do you feel that personal views are a major catalyst when developing a library collection?
I wonder what you mean by catalyst. Should personal views be reflected in the development of the library collection. No, but that is difficult because when a decision needs to be made perhaps between two books it is an individual with individual experiences making that decision and it is difficult to take yourself out of the decision making process. Does that makes sense? That being said one should not consciously and intentionally bring their personal views into the decision making process.
What obstacles can you think of that effect diversity in collection development?
I think the lack of decent diverse material may be one of the problems. In the past, most of the books that are about other cultures have been very stereotypical. Currently there are more politically correct options to choose from but as the blog mentions, funding for these books is a very big problem. Also if the community is not very diversified, the library may choose to spend their very limited budget on books that may be of more interest to the majority of the patrons.
The poster said, "If patrons cannot access information about different cultures how will they learn about them?"
This is a valid question, but I think that the greater obstacle here is, "What if patrons don't care about different cultures?" I think at a certain point it would be difficult for a librarian to justify building a multicultural collection when patrons simply didn't use the materials and there was a strong demand on those resources. For example, I cannot imagine someone in my hometown library wanting to take out a book on paganism. If people use books on that topic, they are likely few and far between. I think that there is a burden on librarians not only to develop multicultural collections, but also to promote the materials. Like the advice from the book on customer-driven libraries that I read for the Wiki, appealing displays, theme weeks, etc. would help the cause.
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