As I progress through this latest of my classes, my program continues to be a source of new knowledge and enlightenment. The topic of collection management and development is almost overwhelming in its complexity, and there is so much exposure to things that I had never before considered--one of which is how collection development (CD) can consort with censorship, even unintentionally.
Time and time again, I see the same message filtered through my
classes and class material: "Libraries should provide the information
that its community desires. Librarians should not withhold material from
anyone just because the information is controversial or otherwise seen
as 'inappropriate.*' " This concept is so important, it makes up the
first part of the Library Bill of Rights.
That's why, when it comes to CD librarians need to be careful in their
selections, both to make sure that the information needs of the
community are being met and to ensure that their own biases are not
affecting their decisions.
As a previous post alluded, CD is how a library creates its collection of resources. Decisions on what to get, how to get it, how much to pay for it, and even when or how to get rid of other items all falls under some part of CD. Librarians that make some or all of these decisions have a lot of power in that they directly affect what will reach the hands--and computers in the case of electronic resources--of the patrons served by the library. Can you see where I'm going with this? A librarian with a strong bias can be a dangerous thing when mixed with CD, and some self-reflection may be necessary to ensure that the librarian can remain neutral when it comes to deciding on items (physical and digital) to add to a library's collection. Otherwise this bias can act as a form of censorship. Choosing not to include a resource--if the reason is NOT related to the suitability of the item to the library's community--is an insidious form of censorship simply because the library patrons don't even know that it's happening. Their access is being restricted and they aren't even aware of the fact to advocate for themselves. So being self-aware, neutral, and keeping the library's community as the focus (not the item itself) is incredibly important for librarians.
There's a number of other topics that CD touches--including Open Access, digital ownership, and the Digital Divide (not just a buzzword, but a real problem in many urban areas). I hope to explore more of these topics further in future posts.
*Please note that there is a difference between "inappropriate" and "illegal."
