This is a topic that I can't give a blanket answer to. I feel that it should be a local decision. What would be best for your library. At our library we have the Urban/Christian Urban Fiction in its own section. This is a highly used section at our library. It actually have the most circs on a monthly basis. With that being so, it is much easier for our patrons to directly to the "Urban/Christian Urban Fiction Section". It is conveniently placed by our reference desk if any assistance is needed. The majority of the assistance is given by one of the reference library assistance. She knows the collection very well and the regular patrons also. Most of the regular patrons will ask for her or only come in when they know she's there. For this reason I can understand the separated section. African American authors such as Walter Mosley, J. California Cooper, Toni Morrison, Mary Monroe and several other African American Fiction writers, I don't feel that they should be in a separate section. The fact that a black person wrote the book does not make it any different from any other fiction writer. I feel that when separated it limits exposure from that author and its book. Just as some adults may feel intimidated going into the youth section to browse for books non African American people may feel a since of intimidation or embarrassment going into the section browsing for a book. I also feel that it is an insult to the author, to African Americans, and all readers. Most readers like to venture out of their comfort zones and again I will say good literature is good literature. Race, creed or color should not matter only the content and the preference of the patron. I agree with thoughts of many that it is a since segregation if they are in a separate section because they are African American but if the separation is created at the convenience of the patrons and the community, then it is something that would have to be understood by all.
I know I am everywhere with this topic because there are pros and cons to both sides of this and I'm somewhere in the middle.
You hit on it perfectly - it depends on how the community uses the collection! What is happening in our library is a sort of combination - we have the books interfiled on the shelves, not shelved in genres, but we do still have some genre stickers. However, we have taken stickers off several genres lately. The genre stickers help those who want to easily spy the books that they want to read - now just Christian Fiction and Mysteries, also our two most popular genres - but having books interfiled lets people see everything we have. They often discover books by their favorite author that were written in a different genre (like Janet Evanovich's mysteries, romances, and other books).
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely a question that comes up periodically, as it should - collections and communities are always changing, and we need to continue discussing whether our libraries are serving our communities in the best way possible!
I forgot - we also sticker our Westerns! Those aren't as popular but Western readers at our library tend to read only those.
DeleteI like how your library has the urban/christian fiction section placed near the reference desk and the fact that it is used often. I think this makes sense and how there is a select person who knows the collection very well, where patrons can feel comfortable asking her about the collection. This gives your library great rapport with the community and makes them feel more welcomed.
ReplyDeleteI think we are all kind of everywhere with this topic, because there are pros and cons of each way. Separating the collection into genres helps people find a book faster, as they can just go straight to their favorite section and pick something out. It also keeps those patrons from finding great books in other genres. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all had the space and the budget to buy multiple copies and do both?
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