Selecting While White: Breaking Out of the Vendor Box

Chelsea Couillard-Smith is a Senior Librarian in Collection Services at Hennepin County Library in Minnesota, and has selected materials for libraries big and small for nearly 10 years. All views expressed are her own, and do not reflect those of her employer.

As a materials selection librarian, I’m keenly aware of the privilege and responsibility that come with the job. Collection development is gatekeeping - when librarians make decisions about what to include, and what not to include, we have to be aware of the effect on our communities. Libraries certainly aren’t the only avenue for the public to discover and obtain books, but we are a critical point of access for many of our patrons.

I don’t need to reiterate for readers of this blog that there is a lack of diversity in the traditional publishing world. At the same time, independent and self publishing have exploded. Many diverse authors are now able to share their stories through non-traditional routes, and are even getting a decent amount of publicity and exposure through social media.

In general, this is fabulous news for our collections. But are libraries actually able to find and to purchase these books? As almost any librarian will tell you, it’s not always as simple as just going out and buying a book for your library the way an individual might go online and make a purchase.

The vast majority of libraries depend heavily on one or two major book vendors to obtain materials for their collections. Whether or not a title is readily available to most libraries can be as simple as whether or not the book is carried by Baker & Taylor or Ingram. Furthermore, public and school libraries are often restricted in whether, how, and how often they can make purchases - many aren’t able to just go online with a credit card and buy what they want.

Staff time is another hurdle in selecting for a diverse collection. In many libraries, selection is done by librarians who are also expected to plan and lead programs, create outreach partnerships in the community, and staff the circulation desk, among many other responsibilities. Materials selection is squeezed into small, stolen chunks of time between other tasks.

I understand that many libraries feel pressured to purchase problematic titles. Regardless of what critics say and what red flags a librarian may recognize in a book, if it’s a well-known author or it’s getting a lot of publicity, a library may purchase it anyway because of patron interest. Libraries that already have large collections, dedicated selection staff, and deep pockets are best positioned to balance the problematic titles in their collections with a diverse array of books from small and independent presses.

Meanwhile, with smaller budgets and less staff time, underfunded or smaller libraries can find it difficult to buy outside of the box. Many still rely heavily on mainstream review journals or blogs and collection development tools from large library vendors to create their collections, and these resources still tend to prioritize the output of the Big 5 publishers. So they may be purchasing titles that marginalize diverse voices, but face challenges in finding and obtaining the independent titles they need to balance their collections and introduce voices that counter problematic narratives. Even if they have staff members who are plugged into alternative review sources, libraries still may not be able to obtain self-published or small press titles, or they may not feel that they have space in their budgets for titles that are more difficult and more expensive to purchase.

In this way, it’s an oddly self-perpetuating cycle whereby the libraries with more staff, more funds, and more flexibility are best able to create broadly diverse collections, while those with smaller budgets, less staff time, and more barriers to purchasing are perhaps as likely to be buying the problematic, high-visibility titles coming from traditional publishers, but are less able to identify and obtain independent titles from diverse authors.

How do we break out of this cycle of dependency on traditional sources and methods of collection development?

There are small things that any library can do to open up their ability to create a diverse collection. Some ideas:

• Something as seemingly innocuous as whether or not your library can buy from a local bookseller, Amazon, or other online sources can be framed as a barrier to diversity and inclusion. Ask decision-makers what it would take to increase buying options and flexibility. Provide examples of the high-quality titles that can only be purchased from the book’s creator, and help those in charge of these decisions understand the context around self-publishing. Many authors have chosen to retain control over their works rather than have them diluted by the standards of traditional publishing, while others have never been given a chance to share their stories.
  
• Advocate for diverse books, even if your budget is tight. Look at selection lists and other collection development tools with a critical eye - whose voices are missing? Advocate for your own regularly scheduled and dedicated time to spend on selection so you can truly dig into alternative resources for identifying and evaluating traditionally marginalized voices. It might feel like an odd way to get some additional off-desk time to buy materials, but your ability to do some research may be affecting the diversity of your collection.
   
• Give self-published authors and small presses a chance to be flexible. If you have to use a purchase order, instead of assuming they will only take a credit card, get in touch. See if you can come to an arrangement that will work for both of you. Most of them will be thrilled at the chance to have their book in a library.
  
• Ask more of your vendors! You may not feel that your voice means much to a large vendor, but the more they hear from all of us about small, independent presses, the more likely they are to start making materials available. I’ve found that even large vendors are interested in developing new distribution relationships if it means selling more materials. Establish a collection development contact at your vendor, and when you discover titles that are not in their database, make a habit of sending them an email. Understandably, not every self-published author or independent press will want to work with a large vendor, but some may be happy to gain additional exposure and increase the availability of their titles.

Collection development is a powerful way to challenge some of the equity problems that exist in children’s literature. Breaking out from the confines of traditional sources of materials and reviews can be challenging and time-consuming, but as long as mainstream publishing remains relatively homogenous, it’s critical work that we need to do to diversify our collections. Whether it’s advocating for our own time to spend on this work, asking questions of our vendors, or opening up new avenues of purchasing, there are small things we can do that make a big difference in our ability to bring marginalized voices into our collections. What are some other practical ideas for librarians with purchasing power? Leave your thoughts in the comments!