Week Fourteen Prompt Response - Separating Collections

For this prompt response, I play a little bit devil's advocate, knowing that what I have to say is likely going to be very different from what most people say. Because determining where to place collections like Urban Fiction or LGBTQ+ into the collection as a whole can be a very tricky subject. At the library I currently work at, Urban Fiction titles have their own call number and all shelved separately (but directly next to) from the regular fiction at nearly every branch (some smaller branches do interfile because of space). For LGBTQ+ titles, some branches have specific displays or sections and some don't; but the titles do not have any sort of labeling delineating a title as LGBTQ+ in order to protect patrons safety, if needed, which is something I strongly agree with - I see no reason to separate LBGTQ+ titles beyond displays because that is not a genre. 

For a separate library, I think I would argue for something similar, while also arguing for room to change how its done in the future, especially if patrons and the community want to see it! If at our core, libraries are to provide access for our patrons and communities and they want something that we can actually offer them why not do it? This of course does encounter a roadblock when some parts of the community want something different than other parts. But the key, is community input. If we make decisions on things for our community without them telling us what they actually want, are we ethically making those decisions? Or making them because we feel like that's what they should be because of institutional and systemic racism?

Urban fiction can be seen as its own genre - that's how its labeled at my library. In the fiction section, you can find "MYS" "SF" and "URBAN FICTION" on the spine labels, each in their own section. This is because these are the most demanded genres by our patrons. It is a patron driven design. I've had numerous patrons specifically ask for the urban fiction section because that is what they want to read, just like when patrons specifically ask for the mystery section. I think if patrons desire it, there is no reason to not catalog differently. However, patrons and their opinions can change and if they do not desire this setup, I see no reason to no longer label/categorize differently. 

I found an excellent article about Ohio libraries phasing out of an African American Fiction label.  It mainly focuses on an African American section as a whole, not just urban fiction, discussing the various opinions on the subject, with many people of color saying they feel marginalized or devalued because these books are separated while many other people of color say it makes them feel valued and honored because they are being spotlighted. 

Notably, author N.K. Jemisin is vocal about her books being placed in African American sections purely because she's a Black author, NOT because her stories feature Black characters (Jemisin writes science fiction/fantasy and do not often feature Black characters, especially as we se them today). But I believe there is a difference between Urban Fiction and an African American section in libraries. African American sections are often used as "Black authors, characters, etc. let's just lump them all together," even if they shouldn't be (Ohio library article)

Vice President of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association, Nichelle Hayes,  believes the problem lies more in the publishing industry and the lack of Black authors being published and makes the argument that libraries need to reflect the community its in. (Ohio library article)

Again, it is a very tricky and hotly debated subject for a plethora of valid reasons. However, I'd argue the decision on how to catalog and display these collections are best left up to learning what the community and patrons want because what works best for one library or community doesn't work better for all. Either way, no matter how they're managed, we just need to be better readers advisory librarians and learn the popular authors and titles for these genres, too.