Knowledge Resources Discussion #6: Inclusive Collection Selection, Management, and Planning
6 December 2023
For this last discussion, you will have the opportunity to reflect on everything you've learned in the course using the specific lens of integrating equitable and inclusive practices.
Similar to other discussions, you should start by doing a literature search on the topic of inclusive collections/collection practices (does NOT have to be these exact keywords) in the type of library you find interesting (school, academic, public, special, etc.). You may focus on any area that seems related to making your collections or collection practices more inclusive. This might include topics related to selecting materials, processing materials, using selection aids, weeding, collection policies and/or procedures, ways of doing community analysis/environmental scans, ways of gathering feedback on your collection, outreach about the collection, designing finding aids, collection organization, accessibility of the collection, or anything else. You may choose to focus on a specific marginalized group, or not.
Select at least one article or other reputable resource (NOT a professional organization's website) that you find particularly useful and/or interesting. You will then report here on your chosen source(s). Some questions you might consider in your report include: How does this resource enhance your understanding of collections or collection practices? How (if at all) does the resource critique standard practices, or aspects that we have learned about this semester? How might you use this resource in your own practice? Who else would you recommend this resource for?
As paradoxical as it might sound, is it perhaps too inclusive for a library located in a specific place to develop collections for the benefit of every human on the planet? I sure hope not, but Trotter and Komarnytska (2023) don't think so, with their article "Climate Change Considerations in Public Library Collection Development," which explores "how public libraries can be active members of their communities and promote conversations about climate change with the specific actions of their collection development" (p. 210). The authors posit that libraries are best suited to be a bridge between fearful, eco-anxiety-gripping petrification and the "difficult, data-heavy information and information that allows people to feel moved to action" by facilitating conversations and educational opportunities involved with climate change collections (p. 211).
While largely not about specific collection processes such as evaluating and selecting materials about climate change, Trotter and Komarnystka do touch on how libraries must balance the "overtly academic literature" resulting from this constantly updating subject to select materials that a general public can comprehend (p. 210). Most of the article might be of use to events programmers or even higher-level coordinators, as the authors recommend changes would require shifts in policy that can most easily (though not necessarily the best in all cases, I would think) implemented from the top-down than bottom-up. These policies stretch into multiple stages of the collections process, such as evaluating and/or avoiding vendors engaging in greenwashing, purchasing books made on recyclable paper, and repurposing or donating weeded books. As they stress later in the article:
If libraries are going to advocate for the fight against climate change, or at least encourage awareness of this topic, then one area to consider is how their collections represent their commitment to sustainable practices. Materials that help create conversations about climate change are important, but other collection-related factors should also be considered such as paper type, green materials, collection waste, delivery and packaging methods, and online resource carbon footprints (p. 213).Although most of Trotter and Komarnystka's suggestions throughout the article requires only adjustments to policy, one piece of guidance, I think, puts forth an understated, yet significant departure from accepted standards. Living in a time where "acceptance of our reality is needed more than ever," Trotter and Komarnystka identify the presence of climate change denial literature on library shelves as an issue, since "these materials can be harmful as they are often full of misrepresentative pseudo-scientific information" (p. 211). In my eyes, this calls the long-held ideal of libraries maintaining neutrality or their commitment "presenting both sides" of an issue to question. Many of the selection policies I came across doing research for this course cite the presence of climate denialist literature or other disputable viewpoints not as an endorsement, but instead an expression of intellectual freedom—but is this notion of intellectual freedom worth preserving when certain ideas are intended to misdirect its audience, however tangentially?
Trotter and Komarnystka do not call for the removal of these materials, as this can easily be interpreted as an act of censorship. They do, however, directly ask "if libraries are to support the ideals of intellectual freedom and accessibility, where is the line when it comes to [climate change denial] materials?" Personally, I do hope these lines will be more firmly drawn when considering the acceptance of new materials about climate change, for our sake, now and in the future.
References
Trotter, M., & Komarnytska, O. (2023). Climate change considerations in public library collection development. Pathfinder: A Canadian Journal for Information Science Students and Early Career Professionals, 4(1), 209–215. https://doi.org/10.29173/pathfinder72