Prompt #8 - Genrefication

Should LGBTQ and Urban fiction be separated from the library’s general collection? This is a loaded question and each library’s response and action will ultimately be different depending on its physical size and community requirements.

Being on the southwest side of Indianapolis with a population of just under 34,000, my local community is not that large according to STATSIndiana.  The library itself has been remodeled, renovated and grown since I moved here back in 1999.  I have seen many changes over the past 20 years including the additions of the IndianaRoom, TeenCentral, the current Children's room, and the expansion and diversification of its various collections. However, in spite of all this, I would not recommend my library separate the LGBTQ and Urban fictions from the rest of its fiction collection.  The top three reasons why I am against this are listed below.

1. Enforces the idea that one genre is more ‘special’, ‘legitimate’, or important than another.  Categorizing and separating fiction books into genres and subgenres although might make it easier to find what one is looking for, it nonetheless infers that one fiction genre has more value than another.  And while it might be easier for patrons, separating the genres creates a library where readers can ignore parts of the collection because of its ‘labels’ (science fiction/fantasy, mystery, thriller/suspense, inspirational, romance, etc).  “As readers’ advisors, this should give us pause because our goal is to make connections between readers and books and not to artificially wall off parts of the collection” (Trott, 2008, p. 34).  LGBTQ and Urban fiction easily fall into this dilemma.
2. Confusion of which genre to classify a book.  Many authors tend to write multiple genres,  thus making it difficult to find their books if the library has the books separated (Pros and Cons).  Also, any specific novel tends to be a combination of several genres.  So how do we know in which genre to classify it?  If the library separates books into genres, then will it need to have several copies of it to place within each genre it might represent?  To do this would be highly impractical and expensive.  “Assigning one label to the book could misrepresent it, and prevent readers of a certain genre from finding it if it has been assigned to another genre” (Should Libraries) “because librarians {tend} to make up their own genre categories.  Or patrons may be confused by a vaguely named section” (Pros and Cons).
3. Key research skills are not learned and discourages browsing. Patrons won’t know how to use the online catalog and Dewey Decimal System if novels are separated out into genres.  Not learning how to use these systems which are universal can become difficult for the patron when they go to another library.  This will be especially true for research purposes when patrons will have to use “keywords, narrow searches, adjust search parameters, etc” (Pros and Cons).  When books are grouped together within their genres, patrons tend to just look specifically there and not anywhere else.  This limits the patron’s chances of finding something interesting by another author they might not have considered before (or the same author just writing in a different genre.)

There are some things the library can do to ‘showcase’ both the LGBTQ and Urban fiction once they

have decided not to separate these genres from the rest of the fiction literature.

1. The library already places labels on the novel’s spines indicating which genre a specific novel falls under.  These can also be done for the LGBTQ and Urban fiction novels.  In order not to bias the genre classification of a novel, the library will continue to use the Library of Congress’s or the SCIC guidelines on how to classify books ‘correctly’.
2. The library needs to create displays during special weeks/months to promote books that fall under the LGBTQ and Urban ‘genre’.  Posters, bookmarks, book/author lists, and reading guides can be created and placed in strategic areas.
3. Carts and bins can be placed in strategic areas with novels from these genres placed on them.  Signs can be placed on the shelves directing patrons to similar books based on subject or author.

Below are resources not cited but read to help back up my reasonings.

Resources:

Dewey or Don't We? Dewey Decimal vs. Genrefication. (Mar 19, 2019). Alexandria. Retrieved April 21, 2020,

from https://www.goalexandria.com/dewey-decimal-vs-genrefication/

Hamm, Sereena. (Aug. 5, 2019). Why I Chose not to Genrify the Fiction Section. Teen Services Underground.

Retrieved April 21, 2020, from https://www.teenservicesunderground.com/why-i-chose-not-to-genrify-the-fiction-section/

Works Cited:

Annual Population Estimates for Indiana Townships by County. (n.d.). STATSIndiana. Retrieved April 21, 2020,

from http://www.stats.indiana.edu/population/sub_cnty_estimates/2018/e2018_townships.asp

Pros and Cons of the Push for Shelving by Genre in Libraries. (Sept. 30, 2019). Pages Unbound Reviews.

Retrieved April 21, 2020, from https://pagesunbound.wordpress.com/2019/10/01/pros-and-cons -of-the-push-for-shelving-by-genre-in-libraries/

Should Libraries Shelve by Genre? (Feb 9, 2019). Pages Unbound Reviews. Retrieved April 21, 2020, from https://pagesunbound.wordpress.com/2019/02/09/should-libraries-shelve-by-genre/

Trott, Barry & Novak, Vicki. (2008). A House Divided? Two Views on Genre Separation. Reference & User Services Quarterly. Retrieved April 21, 2020, 

from https://journals.ala.org/index.php/rusq/article/viewFile/2993/3091;A