To Separate or Not to Separate: Week 14 Prompt Response

I would not separate GLBTQ or African American fiction from the general collection, in terms of normal shelving. Though these two "genres" are distinct from other fiction in many ways, I wouldn't want patrons who check out these materials to feel segregated or set apart in a negative way. To put graphic fiction in its own place on the shelves is one thing--the format here is what sets it apart. People often choose different book formats in order to feed a learning style need or to accommodate for difficulties with reading (for example, people with visual impairments could choose large print versions of books because regular print is too difficult to read). To set books apart because of their content—their themes, kinds of characters, values shared—seems like a form of segregation that says to patrons that only certain people would enjoy "this" kind of fiction so that is why it is separated from the “other” fiction. People want to browse freely, without judgment or others watching what they’re picking up, and separating fiction by content seems to eliminate patrons’ ability to do that.

Along with that, I think that separating these books could send the message that we don’t consider
GLBTQ/African American stories or characters to be on the same level as other fiction. Many GLBTQ people and African Americans lack a sense of belonging in their communities because racism and prejudice cause separation between them and the majority (namely, straight people and white people). Thomas (2007) says that reading is a great opportunity for discovery for GLBTQ people, but that “this act of discovery can be problematic: literature has so often excluded them. In the last decades, as gays and lesbians have grown increasingly vocal in the effort to secure their rightful place in society, a broad range of fiction has emerged that effectively captures their concerns” (p. 40). It is something of a victory to them to have books now with characters that reflect their own personal struggles. However, it seems like it’s taking a step backward to then separate these books out from the rest of the fiction collection. We can’t say that we want members of the GLBTQ community to feel as respected as their straight peers, and then put GLBTQ-centric books in their own separate section of the library—that kind of says that being GLBTQ actually isn’t normal because if it was, then those books would coexist with stories of straight people. The same applies to African American fiction.

Not only would I not separate out GLBTQ or African American Fiction because of the segregation factors, but I also would not separate them for fear that those books would no longer reach all patrons. I said last week that I would incorporate more YA graphic novels into the adult graphic novels so that adults would be able to discover YA titles they'd enjoy, and so they wouldn't feel uncomfortable venturing down into the TeenZone. The same applies to GLBTQ and African American fiction. If those books were set apart on their own, then patrons who don't normally pick up books in those genres would miss out on titles they might really enjoy, whereas they would be able to stumble upon these titles if they were incorporated into the rest of the fiction section.

I understand the need for patrons to know that our collections include books to which they personally can relate, and for them to be able to easily find those books. One way to ensure that this can happen is to do pull-out displays with samplings from our GLBTQ or African American fiction collections. This could drum up interest in these genres and make patrons aware that we do carry these books. Also, as Thomas (2007) suggests, we could offer booklists of award winners, “best of” titles, and so on in GLBTQ and African American fiction. I think it is very important to make patrons aware that our collections include these books, but they don’t need to be segregated from the rest of the fiction. We make pull-out displays and booklists for romance, horror, and Christian fiction, but they are all shelved as simply fiction. The same should be done with GLBTQ and African American fiction.



Reference
Thomas, D. (2007). A place on the shelf. Library Journal, 132(8), 40-43.