CD and Censorship

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."

Weeding the Books: My Personal Challenge

Already in my collection management class, we're exploring topics and issues that are really making me think. One of the latest topics brought up in our class discussion is the necessity of weeding as part of collection management. For those who are not librarians and are not very familiar with the terminology, weeding is the act of removing those items that are no longer "useful" from the collection. The reasons for weeding can be 1) the item is out of date and the information is no longer correct, 2) the item has not been checked out or used for some time, which argues against its continued usefulness, or even 3) the item has been replaced by other items more suited to the service population (the people that come and use the library). Or it could be for another reason not mentioned here.

Weeding is an important part of collection management policy because it keeps a collection relevant to those who use the library, and it helps to make space for newer materials that patrons want. However, I think that this particular aspect of collection management will be the toughest for me because I cringe internally every time I think about getting rid of a book. Even with my own collection (which, funny enough, has more items in it than the collection of the library I work in), it is SO DIFFICULT to get rid of anything--including old textbooks that I haven't picked up in years. As I mentioned in a reply to a classmate's comment, "It's not just that they're books--they have a value that I think librarians and avid readers inherently understand, but others seem to overlook. There is knowledge there, [not] just factual, but cultural, emotional, and psychological." The most that I'm ever able to do is pack old books into a box and put them in storage for that day I finally have enough space to give my books their own room (one day...one day...).

So with my tenacious hold on my own volumes, I don't know how I'm going to address the conflict within myself to effectively weed in a library's collection. Is there a training program for that? I suppose this is where the collection policy comes in. A well-written policy will contain guidance for what materials to weed when and why. My personal collection will continue to remain unweeded (though it continues to grow), but the collection at the library I work at definitely needs to be weeded--no matter how much I would like to avoid it. My hope is that I will be able to formulate a policy and procedure for weeding and determine items that can be discarded--especially since I will desperately need the space to put in new materials we will need to purchase for several new programs we will be introducing to our campus. For this, I will, I must put my personal desires aside for the sake of my library's collection. Even though it will be hard.

One of my classmates posted a link to this blog entry with a realistic and humorous approach to weeding: http://perfectwhole.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/i-cant-believe-youre-throwing-out-books/ I can understand and appreciate many of the points the author makes, and maybe I can use the author's attitude as a model for my own approach to my library's collection.

Collection Management

One could argue that a library isn't a library without the resources (in whatever form they come) used to provide patrons with the information they desire. Nowadays, more and more of these information resources are digital, and it is common for even smaller libraries to subscribe to at least one online database. But determining the resources a library should choose to provide falls under the ongoing task of collection management.

In public libraries, you'll see a significant portion of the collection dedicated to fiction items--as this is what patrons often want to borrow from their local library--as well as non-fiction items. University library collections (at least from my observation) tip the scale to be heavily in favor of non-fiction in order to support the research community they serve. To my understanding, special libraries seem to be much more specialized and focus on a much more specific range of topics in order to serve whatever group of people rely on their resources. The library in which I work, while it does serve an academic community, is more specialized than the norm in a college or university library because the programs here are so specialized. So in that regard, it would have more in common with a special library.

And now I have to consider some long-term development for the collection. This campus has not had a change in the programs offered here for some time. However, within the next year, there will be some programs added to those we currently offer, which means that the collection will have to reflect these additional programs as well. It's a challenge especially since space is at a prime and I will need to do some serious weeding in order to make room. Not only that, but I will need to consult with the faculty on both items to weed and items to add since I'm no expert in the programs here (which are all mechanics and trade-based). I have learned quite a bit since I started working here, but I know that the instructors know their trades far better than me, and I bow to their many years of experience in their chosen field.

So it is rather well-timed that I have registered for a Collection Management class for this upcoming semester of my program. I have many questions: How do you successfully elicit input on materials from faculty? Should students also be consulted for recommendations and how would you collect such recommendations? How do you determine what percentage of the collection should be given to each subject area? How often should you update your materials? How often should you weed out older materials? How old is too old? How do you budget for your collection and anticipated materials requisitions? It will be incredibly useful to find out how to successfully manage a collection right when I need to utilize those skills in a real-life work experience.

I know that I have some posts to catch up on--and some recipes too! I will do my best to post a new recipe this week.