Aggleton, J. (2018). Where are the children in children’s collections? An exploration of ethical principles and practical concerns surrounding children’s participation in collection development. The New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, 24(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/13614541.2018.1429122

Summary: 

    This article considers the role of children in the development and selection of children's services collections. The author argues that, as the target audience of a children's services collection, children should be involved in this selection process. Children are almost entirely absent from involvement in the writing and publication of children's books, and by keeping them out of the collection development process at school and public libraries, children's literature becomes a reflection of adult culture rather than child culture as is the aim. However, the author does not propose that the process should be handed over to children entirely. Rather, it is argued that libraries and librarians must develop an understanding that "It is not sufficient for adults to assume that they understand children’s opinions on children’s literature" and as such it "is needed is for the librarian or archivist to find ways to enable children to participate, though not to have total control over the process". 

Evaluation:

    I found myself in full agreement with most of what the author of this article was presenting. It is entirely too common for librarians in charge of developing youth or children's collections to do so without any input or participation from the audience they are seeking to serve. The assumption that adults have a firm knowledge on the tastes and desires of young readers must be abolished. While this article doesn't necessarily provide practical steps for facilitating the involvement of children in the selection process, it provides a solid theoretical understanding for the importance of doing so and could be used to support the implementation of these practices in library systems that are hesitant to do so. 

 Chapman, E. L., & Birdi, B. (2016). “It’s Woefully Inadequate”: Collections of LGBTQ* Fiction for Teens in English Public Library Services. Journal of Research on Libraries & Young Adults, 7(1), 1–29.

Summary:

This article highlights a study conducted in the UK that investigates how accessible and available LGBTQ+ fiction is to teens in British libraries. Using a mix methods approach they compared library holdings and collections to a list of LGBTQ+ resources and titles they created and collected to see how  much of that list was present and in what formats. Sadly the reported findings suggested that very few libraries had a strong collection of up to date and positive LGBTQ+ fiction available for young readers. Research suggested there were significant gaps and much needed room for improvement across most of the library branches they surveyed. The MLIS staff who were interviewed were often shocked and disappointed that so little relevant titles and resources were available.

Evaluation: 

Though the results of the study proved disappointing because of the clear lack of titles available to LGBTQ+ youth and teens the study was very successful in exposing a gap in the collection. The results of the study were distributed to the branches they conducted their research at and the staff were able to see their lack of collection and start to address it. The staff also were given access to the list created be the researchers so they could build and grow their collection of LGBTQ+ materials that are genuinely wanted by LGBTQ+ teens. 

Library as Infrastructure

Summary:

In this article Shannon Mattern lays out a fascinating historical perspective of the development of physical attributes of a library and how they influence and are influenced by the media that they house.  She starts with Mevil Dewey’s influence on all aspects of the library in terms of not only the organization of materials (like the Dewey Decimal System) but also the physical apparati that we use to access information (like the original card catalog that we used to organize the metadata).  Mevil Dewey, among many things, was an entrepreneur that had his hands in everything and anything that had to do with information, including how we develop it, organize it, access it and distribute it.  

The author, Mattern, continues from this historical perspective toward our present day libraries addressing the question, ' what is the library and what is its purpose?’  We no longer have Mevil Dewey to guide the answers to these questions, but we do have many new players that influence the direction of the library as a concept.  Including David Weinberger, who suggested that the library should consider itself a ‘platform’ for the creation of knowledge.   Mattern has some issues with this concept and instead suggests that the library is not just a “two-dimensional” space for the creation of information but is rather a vastly more complex infrastructure that embodies all information in all of its forms.  

Starting from the assumption that the library is the physical and digital infrastructure of information, Mattern continues to support this concept in addressing two forms of infrastructure (social infrastructure and technological-intellectual infrastructure).  Through this lens she explains the library's role in developing the infrastructures that ultimately influences the community that the library serves.  

Why this article is valuable to me and why I think in may be valuable to you:

As a new student to LIS, I am constantly feeling (and hearing from professors) that the library is struggling to define itself in this information age.  Most (almost all?) information that used to be physically housed in a library is now housed digitally and can be accessed privately.  People used to go to the library for answers, now they can go to their computers.  So, I’m constantly asking, ‘what is the library? And why is it important in this new era?’  I think this article really helped me to understand or to at least have a vision of what the library is in this new world that we now live in.  

Reference:

  Mattern. (2014). Library as Infrastructure. Places (Cambridge, Mass.), 2014. https://doi.org/10.22269/140609

Metadata for diversity: Identification and implications of potential access points for diverse library resources.

Fran Prather

Rachel, I. C., & Schoonmaker, S. (2020). Metadata for diversity: Identification and implications of

potential access points for diverse library resources. Journal of Documentation, 76(1), 173-196. 

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JD-01-2019-0003.

Summary:

This article begins with the premise that diversity is one of the core values of American librarianship and that libraries must promote diverse materials and advocate for diverse communities. After a literature review that begins with the seminal "Windows and Mirrors" premise of Bishop (1990), the authors present their research and findings on the challenges of using metadata to tag resources for diversity. Diversity in this case included "baskets":  gender, occupation, geographic region, audience, age, race, ethnicity, cultural identity, indigeneity, gender identity, LGBTQIA+, and disability. Specific problems included content creators and whether or not the creator themselves wanted to be identified by these elements and the lack of a a way to specify these areas in MARC records. Also of concern is a recognition that these baskets do not allow for nuances in intersectional relationships. Noted in these elements were also specifically American social practices and ethnocentrism, which cloud tags and may further the "othering" of marginalized communities. Of major concern was the lack of specificity in disability and indigeneity, which almost erased mention of these populations, further marginalizing large groups of already minoritized communities. The authors suggest that "any access points to describe diverse reading materials needs to consider support for self-identification, impermanent and flexible metadata, and intentional and explicit positionality" (p.192). 

Analysis/Reaction:

This research is timely and welcome. As a high school librarian who has worked to diversify my school's collection, I have been quite frustrated by attempts to acquire new materials, perform a diversity analysis of the collection, and with how to tag materials so that patrons can locate them by as possible keywords as available. The idea of crowdsourcing the tagging to allow for flexible metadata is intriguing in a school library; is the student population trustworthy in this regard? After all, we have books on the Holocaust that have been physically vandalized with swastikas - do we want to open tagging to students online? How does a librarian manage the tagging?- One of my own concerns is how to promote diversity without furthering stereotypes or "othering," a concern shared by the authors of this article as needing further research.  

Loud Hands in the Library Neurodiversity in LIS Theory & Practice

 Lawrence, E. (2013). Loud Hands in the Library Neurodiversity in LIS Theory & Practice. Progressive Library Guild. http://www.progressivelibrariansguild.org/Braverman/Braverman2013.pdf

Lawrence asks how might we approach neurological difference in a library setting’s physical layout. Something I haven't thought about before. 

Lawrence introduces numerous approaches to neurodiversity including the Medical Approach, the Social Approach and the Neurodiversity-Based Approach. Some differentiation on these approaches help clear up common questions librarians have about disability and neurodiversity. The medical approach is more qualitative and less sensitive to people’s humanity. Doctors speak of Autism as an epidemic and see the spectrum as only "high to low functioning".  The social approach is the most common approach in society and the “social model depicts disability as a socially constructed phenomenon, the product of systematic discrimination” (Lawrence 3). The Neurodiversity-Based Approach is a more contemporary approach.   “Neurodiversity advocates seek “better social support mechanisms, greater understanding from those around them or those who treat them, and a recognition that, though they are neurologically, cognitively and behaviorally different, they do not necessarily suffer from being neuro-diverse nor do they need to be cured” (Fenton & Krahn, 2007; Lawrence, 4). 

Lawrence does justice to this topic by highlighting the lack of publications on these issues including only 3 articles on Assistive Technology is shocking. This brings this issue to the information professionals so in the future there may be more publications on these issues. 

Lawrence asks how might we do better? Getting away from referring to autistics in a clinical medical approach is one way to do better. Lawrence  suggests asking persons with autism directly and collaborating with  Autistic-run Organizations as a means for taking Autistics seriously as a user group and as a community. Creating meaningful connections and seeing persons with autism as individual users with specific needs. 

Curation Situations: Let us count the ways

Stefani, Anne

Valenza, J. (2017, July 5). Curation situations: Let us count the ways. School Library Journal. Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2017/07/05/curation-situations-let-us-count-the-ways


In “Curation situations, let us count the ways” Joyce Valenza discusses not only the many definitions of curation, but also the critical importance of creating collections to support student learning, especially in a digital format. She and her co-authors conducted several surveys which ultimately led them to the “curator’s taxonomy” which consists of four parts: collecting, connecting, curating, and contributing (Valenza, 2017). She goes on to argue that librarians are critical members of instructional leadership on campus because they possess a holistic view of the learning needs at their site and/or context:

Digital curation is a translation and amplification of our traditional practice. We study the                specific needs and interests of our communities. We have always been around to tame the information flow, to facilitate discovery and knowledge building. Curation is a direct translation of collection building, critical evaluation, instructional partnership, sense making, meeting community needs, knowledge building and instruction. With a school wide perspective spanning disciplines, grade levels and learners’ abilities, we build collections based on decisions relating to quality, diversity and local relevance. We organize resources for intellectual and physical access and equity and our efforts are portable, collaborative, embeddable, easy to access, customized for their audience and optimized for all platforms.

This article really resonated with me because it captures the important role that librarians play in finding resources for everyone on their campus and/or district. Whether it is a video for a teacher, a language tutorial site for a student, or even an article for administration, librarians have the power to create connections and take some of the heavy-lifting off of the shoulders of students and teachers. However, like the article points out, those resources and collections need to be easily accessible for all so that those resources do not just exist in individual silos, but rather are available for all. Digital collections housed on learning commons websites are an excellent way to ensure equal access for all.

Libraries Full Circle: The Cross Section of Community, the Public Sphere and Third Place

 Danielle Meininger

Wood, E. (2021). Libraries full circle; The cross section of community, the public sphere and third place. Public Library Quarterly, 40(2), 144-166. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2020.1737491

Summary

Emma Wood, associate librarian at UMass Law Library draws on her experience as both an academic and public librarian as well as foundational work on the public sphere and concept of third place to make the argument that today's libraries are better poised than ever to imbue their communities with the gift of space, conversation and community. Although recently many libraries have focused on the growth of their digital resources and virtual interactions Wood feels that the history of libraries is rooted in the salons and coffeehouses of 17th century Europe where diverse groups of citizens gathered to discuss ideas. Libraries being open to all people and curators of knowledge for the public good are natural gathering places that enhance the livability and function of the communities they are placed in and are not simply "warehouses for books"

Further on the discussion moves on to a hot issue to date of library neutrality in which Wood convincingly argues that neutrality is in the co-existence of many freely competing ideas and information. The social responsibility of the library consists of a sphere "of shared space, shared ideas and physical collections each encouraging the other (p.151)." This argument supports her final thesis of the library as third place, ie. not home and not work but another valuable space people feel comfortable in precisely because everyone is accepted and all ideas can mingle freely. This doesn't guarantee any particular success for libraries in general but serves as a guide to focus efforts to connect in real time and place with library visitors and those who may not realize the library can be a vibrant and accepting place in world of divisiveness and isolation. 

Evaluation

This article really helped to clarify a few thoughts for me on my own personal philosophy of the library. Working in public libraries I have seen the vast variety of reasons people visit the library and marveled at my co-workers abilities to serve them all with patience and fortitude. This past year as my library was shut down I saw the pain it caused potential patrons and witnessed their actual tears as we re-opened our doors. I think Emma Wood develops her thesis with interesting background on gathering places and information dissemination of the past, but she truly hits her stride as she ropes in the concept of the interconnectedness of collections, service and programming and providing a physical space to hear and see people without expectation. That is the libraries true value and one that cannot simply be replaced by the internet or any other type of service.