[Libs-Or] Collection Development Policies & Racism

[Linda Ueki Absher]

As someone who grew up having access to only books that centered upon the
white, middle/upper-class experience, I appreciate your efforts, Taylor.

Regards,

linda ueki absher

On Wed, Sep 22, 2021 at 9:05 AM Taylor Worley via Libs-Or <
libs-or at omls.oregon.gov> wrote:

> Thank you Rita, for your response; I'm grateful for your perspective.
>
> Perhaps I should have been more explicit with our motivations and
> intentions in my initial email. I hope this additional context is
> beneficial. I am going to use primarily "I" statements and kidlit examples,
> because I can only speak to my specific experiences.
>
> In my role in collection development, materials assessment, etc. I read
> and have, myself, many competing perspectives. An excellent example would
> be Brave by James Bird from 2020. This title received many starred reviews
> and made best-of-the-year lists, however it also received a "Not
> Recommended" from American Indians in Children's Literature. So, when I am
> assessing whether or not to keep this book in my collection (or, if I had
> not already ordered it, then whether to purchase it in the first place),
> there are many complex things to consider in addition to circulation
> statistics and physical condition (digital copies of the book being their
> own thing entirely). I have a responsibility to hear and trust expert
> perspectives, because my own perspective (cis, white, bi, etc.) only gets
> me so far, and has myriad blind spots.
>
> With this revisit of our collection development policy, I am not looking
> for a reason to ban books. However, we also must be honest with ourselves
> that the nature of collection development is, to a certain extent,
> manipulating what folks read. We choose what to order and what not to
> order. We decide how many copies, and which titles get put on display or
> highlighted in readers advisory and hand-sells. I want to make sure that
> our collection development policy is a robust, intentional, and thoughtful
> scaffolding for our collection work, and not simply a document that we
> refer to when a patron decides they don't want "George" by Alex Gino on
> middle grade shelves. If I decide that yes, a title belongs on our shelves
> regardless of my personal feelings on it, then does our policy support that
> decision, and how? Whom did we listen to, read, and consult when making
> that decision? Who is harmed with that decision, and who benefits?
>
> Regarding the Freedom to Read statement and ALA's other, similar
> documents, they are all in my resources for this project and I am referring
> to them regularly.
>
> Thanks so much, again,
>
>
> *Taylor Worley                                                 *Youth
> Services Librarian
> Springfield Public Library
> 225 5th Street
> Springfield, OR 97422
> 541.726.2243 (direct)
> taylorlgkw at gmail.com
> tworley at springfield-or.gov
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Sep 22, 2021 at 7:54 AM Riddle City Library <
> riddlecitylibrary at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> It seems we've lost the Freedom to Read policy in many of our libraries.
>> Why are we trying to dictate what people read? What happened to Banned
>> Books week? Are we moving backward here?  Let's stay open to ALL literature
>> instead of making it our job to remake the minds of people.. Are we overtly
>> harming children by banning racist fiction? Think carefully about this.
>> Rewriting or banning history and "harmful" literature is taking the Freedom
>> to Read from them. Instead, perhaps the solution is to encourage parents
>> and teachers to train their children to love and accept all races and
>> creeds. We, as educators, can have a tiny part in this process as well.
>> Promote love and good will and remain open minded to the freedoms we enjoy.
>> They are extremely valuable. Just as the freedom of speech is valuable as
>> well. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak freely my opinion. I
>> remain
>> Looking forward,
>> Rita Radford
>> Riddle City Library
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 21, 2021 at 5:55 PM Taylor Worley via Libs-Or <
>> libs-or at omls.oregon.gov> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi folks,
>>>
>>> A while back I sent an email out asking for information as we were
>>> considering setting up a historical children's literature collection in our
>>> public library. After research and discussions, we've come to the
>>> conclusion that not only is it *not* an ideal solution for dealing with
>>> old/complex/and often racist literature, but it would very likely cause
>>> overt harm rather than simply changing the context around the books, as was
>>> our intention. So, we're going to the root of things and revisiting our
>>> collection development policy.
>>>
>>> My questions for the Great Brain are: 1) has your library rewritten or
>>> edited your collection development policy recently 2) do you have specific
>>> language in your collection development policy which addresses racist
>>> *fictional* works (for any part of your library, not necessarily
>>> exclusive to your kids/tweens/teens collections)?
>>>
>>> We are working our way through various library's websites and continuing
>>> to look for examples, research, discussions, etc., but if anyone has wisdom
>>> to share directly, we'd greatly appreciate it.
>>>
>>> Thanks so much,
>>>
>>> *Taylor Worley (she/her)
>>>  *
>>> Youth Services Librarian
>>> Springfield Public Library
>>> 225 5th Street
>>> Springfield, OR 97422
>>> 541.726.2243 (direct)
>>> taylorlgkw at gmail.com
>>> tworley at springfield-or.gov
>>>
>>>

-- 

// linda ueki absher //
Professor, Social Sciences & Humanities Librarian
Portland State University Library // Portland, Oregon
absherl at pdx.edu  //  (503)725-8862‬
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