Zine Authors' Attitudes about Inclusion in Public and Academic Library Collections

Devon Cahill

ET

Hays, A. (2018). Zine Authors’ Attitudes about Inclusion in Public and Academic Library Collections: A Survey-Based Study. Library Quarterly, 88(1), 60–78. https://doi-org.libaccess.sjlibrary.org/10.1086/694869

Summary

This article addresses the growing presence of zine collections in public and academic libraries but considers how the zine authors themselves feel about the phenomenon. As the author notes, “at least 113 public and academic libraries across the United States currently have zine collections…” but there is not any current research on how zine authors feel about this trend.

 

The author defines a zine as, “...handmade paper publications with small print runs, are sold at or slightly above cost, and are intentionally nonprofessional.” Because the publication is decentralized and they are not usually published for profit, there is no standard format for a zine and authors are sometimes hard to track down. The author then quickly traces the origins of the zine to the science fiction authors of 1930s to the punk zines of the 1970s to the riot grrrl zines of the 1990s to make the case that zines are inherently counter-cultural and serve as a valuable archive for these underground movements and philosophies. This is where the connection between zines and libraries takes shape.

 

So what did the authors feel about their, by design, ephemeral and underground works finding their place in libraries? Not surprisingly, a seemingly large percentage (29%) were strongly against having their real names be included in the archive. Though the author does concede that around 30% of respondents wrote their zines using a pseudonym. Of the remaining 70%, almost all were happy to have their real name in the catalog. A large percentage (66%) felt that they would be uncomfortable discovering there work had been digitized and made available to download without their permission, but 71% said they would be excited if they were asked.

 

In conclusion, the author notes that “zine authors favor access over privacy” and would generally be happy to be included in a collection. However, being asked for permission was a key factor in this acceptance.

 

Evaluation

Having been involved in the punk scene and a zine creator myself, I can corroborate the concerns of the authors here. When writing these, I certainly would never have considered that they could have an impact beyond the community they were intended for. So, it might be a little unnerving to discover one of these works available for download in a collection somewhere. At the same time, the ideal of equity in access has always been central to punk politics so the notion that you could produce something that anyone could access digitally is quite appealing.

 

In terms of collections, I can imagine the headache that the pseudonyms would cause catalogers and archivists, especially armed with the knowledge that most zine authors would be disappointed to find their zine digitized and available to download without their consent. Personally, since zines are non-profit by nature, open access through an archive would just be the logical extension of this aesthetic.

Dawkins, & Gaivgan, K. W. (2019). E-book Collections in High School Libraries: Factors Influencing Circulation and Usage. School Library Research, 22.

Summary: Purchasing e-books has recently received a huge push due to Covid-19 and school closures. This article was written just before this global event and gives an excellent overview for the reasons that e-books may or may not be effective in schools. Seven high schools were chosen from rural, urban, and suburban areas. The data was collected from a combination of circulation statistics and interviews with the librarians. Accessibility issues were noted, especially in the rural areas as not all students have data plans on their cell phones or high speed internet access at home. Common across the schools was the preference for students to read a physical book over an e-book. A few schools reported that students associate e-books with research which is non-fiction. If they were reading for pleasure and not for school, a physical book was their preferred choice. Overall, e-books represented a significantly low total circulation for most of the high school libraries. It was also noted that purchasing habits as well as how the level of marketing can have considerable impact on how these e-books are used.

Evaluation/Opinion:  I chose this article as I am dealing with low circulation amongst our e-books. This is my first year as the librarian. We only just got the e-book app last school year. Circulation is non-existent. I am examining the potential reasons for this and found this article helpful in narrowing in what could be the issue. First is marketing of the app. None has been done since I have started this school year apart from my English 9 library orientation classes in which I briefly mention the app. Second is the selection of books available to the students. I am still learning about my community and what types of books they like to read. I have a small budget from last year remaining to be spent with this digital app but I am currently at a loss for what to purchase. It is a difficult decision to promote an app where you believe there are not enough options for students yet are still unsure what those options should be. This article was helpful and gave me insight on my next steps to increasing the circulation stats of our e-books.

Equity in Action: Doing a Diversity Audit

 

Jensen, Karen.  (2018).  Library Journal’s Equity in Action: Doing a Diversity Audit.  https://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2018/10/library-journals-equity-in-action-doing-a-diversity-audit/

 

This web posting is by Karen Jensen who has learned from her own experience of working in libraries, research, and then finally presenting to others what she has learned about diversity in collections and the  process of auditing a library collection to gather data on our collection and to look for weak areas of the collection.  Our first attempt at a diversity audit is likely not going to yield the results that we want or expect.  It may take several tries, and the more research we do about effective audits and working with others who have completed audits successfully will help ease the learning curve and be a more productive use of our limited time.  The experience of those such as Ms. Jensen can save us the trouble and nuisance of re-inventing the wheel, so to speak, and ease us into a process that might feel completely overwhelming, especially to a new librarian.

 A diversity audit helps us to answer the question, “what percentage of my collection is written by something other than the traditionally dominant voice?”   She includes slides from a recent presentation that she gave, and talks about the types of diversity to consider, how we can accomplish an effective diversity audit, collecting and analyzing our data.  How we can organize our audit in “chunks”  rather than tackling the entire collection at once to avoid becoming overwhelmed.  She also shares other resources that are helpful in learning more about diversity in library collections as well as how to complete a successful audit. 

 

 

 

Librarians Don't Deserve to be Dragged into Culture Wars

Naylor, Lori

Stevenson, S. (2021, November 23). Texas School Librarians don't deserve gov. Abbott dragging them into culture wars. Fort Worth Star-Telegram. https://www.yahoo.com/news/texas-school-librarians-don-t-162416559.html

    With the recent troubles for school libraries, where books such as Gender Queer and All Boys Aren’t Blue are not only being pulled from shelves but even right out of students’ hands, this article (by a former Texas middle school librarian) is an update on the troubles in Texas.

    Now the governor of Texas is threatening legal action against the librarians for “promoting pornographic materials.” This is despite the fact that none of the recently challenged books fit the state of Texas’ legal definition of pornography which is “any visual or written material that depicts lewd or sexual acts and is intended to cause sexual arousal.” The author notes that in the entire liberal Austin school district (which serves over 77,000 students) there are actually only four copies, for example, of Gender Queer, one of the books librarians are supposedly at fault for providing.

    As a former librarian, Stevenson is a voice of reason. She reminds readers that “the existence of a book in a library in no way signifies endorsement” by the librarian. Also, she acknowledges that librarians can make mistakes; they cannot, of course, read every book they put on the shelves. The article notes that “the government — in this case, a public school — cannot restrict speech because it does not agree with the content of that speech,” according to the Bill of Rights Institute. “The decisions called libraries places for ‘voluntary inquiry’ and concluded that the school board’s ‘absolute discretion’ over the classroom did not extend to the library for that reason.”

Bias in Collection Development

Summary

The library literature addressing the role of bias in collection development emphasizes a philosophical approach. It is based on the notion that bias can be controlled by the conscious act of believing in certain values and adhering to a code of ethics. It largely ignores the psychological research on bias, which suggests that bias is a more complex and subtle phenomenon. Bias is not always conscious and cannot always be consciously controlled. Countering bias requires an understanding of both its conscious and unconscious influences on selectors and the selection process. This article examines the psychological research that has been conducted on bias and shows how it applies to selectors and the selection process in collection development.

Evaluation/opinion

This article provides a theoretical framework to help rethink collection development policies and processes to reduce bias in selection. While we can support the ethical values of intellectual freedom, the actual task of collection development requires a large cognitive load, and encourages mental shortcuts that can be subject to bias. While the article provides individual actions a selector can take to reduce bias during selection, it does not provide guidance for how to set up institutional processes to provide accountability among selectors to reduce bias.

Reference

Quinn, B. (2012). Collection development and the psychology of bias. Library Quarterly, 82(3), 277-304. 

Changed, Changed Utterly

 https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2020/06/05/academic-libraries-will-change-significant-ways-result-pandemic-opinion

Summary:

In this article Christopher Cox explores how library collection development has been forever altered in the wake of the 2020 pandemic. He discusses the "new- normal" -one where in person classes and service interactions may be impossible. He explores the diminishing value of print collections. He asks how we can make the content in our print collections more accessible and relevant in a post CVID 19 world? He questions mass digitization and access versus archives. He cites copyright right difficulties and issues which would need to be resolved before universal acceptance. He advocates for additional mass digitization efforts, leveraging collaborative storage agreements with repositories currently dedicated to print- content and making library print collections more accessible.

Cox predicts that over the next few years libraries will universally be spending more time and money to develop their electronic collections. As budgets are reduced he foresees a challenge in accomplishing this goal. Libraries will need to develop new strategies for negotiating better deals with publishers while simultaneously lobbying for greater access to streaming media and ebooks, which are more plentiful and cheaply accessible to individuals than they are to libraries. He cites the Macmillian e-book embargo as an indication of future difficulties regarding the development of new access models.

Several institutions have had to rethink multiyear licenses to large journal packages in light of the long term financial implications of COVID-19 as well as years inflationary increases by publishers. Cox believes if more libraries decide to purchase material title by title instead of relying on large contracts with publishers then they will save a significant amount of money. He believes that libraries can force publishers to develop an a la carte purchase option by relying on source sharing agreements and document delivery services. By canceling big publishing deals libraries send a  clear message that things need to change. 

Evaluation:

Being back in a public library for these last five months have shown me that most of what Dean Cox talks about is exactly what we need to evolve forward in the information science world. What is disheartening is to learn about budgetary reductions at a time when those funds are needed most to ensure the safety of library workers. Large sections of hard plastic barriers now enclose the circulation and reference desks which do provide a bit more assurance of protection from COVID. The new normal of face masks and social distancing have allowed our staff meetings to still be held virtually as we seek not to infect each other in the office. What is new is that most patrons are now fully comfortable with the LAPL app which provides them almost unrestricted access to our whole website. I have also noted a less intensive process of cataloguing in the collection. Recently a patron checked out a stack of magazines popular in England, they mentioned that they almost exclusively used the LAPL to get their access but when she learned we had physical she wanted to get them for her mother who is hard of seeing. The encounter with that patron made me realize that whats really required  for libraries to succeed post pandemic is a balanced collection that preserves and circulates print material while emphasizing the availability of electronic resources.

Collecting the Dust Collectors: Reimagining and putting to use materials your school is not using.

 

Cullinane, A. (2018, January 11). School library incorporates reading with exercise. 10 WJAR. 

https://turnto10.com/news/local/school-library-incorporates-reading-with-exercise

           

Summary: This article was interesting in this work because it talked about the often forgotten task of simply rummaging through your school storage areas and putting to use what is not being used. Then, simply putting clip boards over the handlebars, the students are now able to use equipment the school paid for and read at the same time, effectively building a life skill of associating reading with physical and mental health. The librarian in this story also works at the high school in the district, so this is a habit she could potentially build on going forward for students. This was free!

 

Evaluation: You never know what you can find in the depths of your school’s, and even district’s, storage areas. I once found old LeapPads-with the cartridges-in the library of a highly disadvantaged, 100% free reduced lunch school and they weren’t being used. They should have been in classrooms and in the library but they were in storage. I was so mad. The school was build in 1921 so my classroom legit had five outlets with two plugs and a few plugs didn’t work. Another outlet was our SmartBoard and another the class phone. So, with what was left, I plugged in four LeapPads for the kids. They loved them. They were bulky enough to survive being on the floor incase of accidental kicking. What I enjoyed with this article was the implementation of the bikes and ellipticals in the library. This allows rambunctious students to burn some energy in a calm atmosphere. To begin connecting exercise and reading with physical and mental health. I would love to see public libraries do this for all ages but specifically school libraries as obesity rates rise and literacy rates lower. Let’s fight both battles at once!