Week 13 Prompt

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To separate or not to separate? For LGBTQ fiction, it is a hard no. For Urban fiction, I would also say no.

My reason to not separate LGBTQ fiction is because it can be interpreted as a theme and not as a completely separate genre. LGBTQ themes can fit within the genres of romance, fantasy, mystery, and more. If you were to pull out and separate titles by this theme, you would have a huge mix of books that are really quite different,  just all containing an LGBTQ theme. My example of this would be to compare two books I recently read. The Priory of the Orange Tree, which is an epic fantasy, and Red, White & Royal Blue, which is romantic comedy. The only thing similar about these books is that there is an LGBTQ theme present, and that is where the similarities end. This in no way benefits browsability within the library and would only serve to alienate these titles from the rest of the collection. If a patron runs across these titles and disagrees with the content, they must simply move on and not read the title. Like Mantel states, "you have to set the parameters and you have to make the decisions and you have to enforce them" (Associated Press, 2018, p. 1). 

What could the benefits to separating out Urban fiction be? Urban fiction, like Fantasy and Mysteries, is its own genre. According to the Author Learning Center (n.d.), "Urban fiction... tells the story of life in the inner-city, generally with a gritty, dark tone. The plot shines a light on the harsh realities of life in the city, including hard subjects such as drug use, gangs, sex, poverty, and violence" (p. 1). If a library system is pulling out multiple genres such as Historical Romance, Science Fiction, or Mysteries an argument could be made that this would be unfair to the Urban fiction genre and that it should be given a spotlight like every other genre. Additionally, if these titles were pulled out it would increase browsability for those who typically read this genre to be able to access a collection of books they want to read all in the same area. A system would have to ask themselves, are there enough "commonalities between large numbers of books in your collection?" (Lyttle & Walsh, 2015, p. 1). Even with this argument, I would still lean towards not pulling it out separately.

My reasoning to not pull out Urban fiction is because "you risk being accused of ghettoizing them; deeming them as not worthy enough to be in the general fiction" (Becky, 2011, p. 1). The very last thing a library wants to do is segregate books, which is what I fear separating out this genre could do. Patrons who are browsing would lose the opportunity to discover these titles if they were shoved off to the side somewhere. I think an alternative to this would be to create fun and eye catching Urban fiction displays to promote these titles, rather than cramming them into a corner. I'm not saying that this is the end all answer to this question, but this is the main reason of why I wouldn't personally pull out this genre.

Coming from a personal perspective, I like to have genres pulled out (specifically fantasy and science fiction). Whenever I want to go "browse" I go to the section that I am in the mood for. I am not much of a browser in the stacks, I do most of my browsing online. This cuts down on my search time and I get just what I want. My library pulls out all sorts of genres and I like that if a patron asks for a mystery recommendation I can take them right over there to the shelf to point out my favorite authors. However, I do see the issue with this. Not all patrons know exactly what they want, and separating out genres can actually hide these titles from those who like to browse and are not sure of what they are looking for. As with any decision, there are always pros and cons, and a library system must decide on what works for them.

References

Associated Press. (2018, March 21). Iowa library to separate books after complaints about lqbtq. https://www.oklahoman.com/article/feed/1904116/iowa-library-to-separate-books-after-complaints-about-lgbtq

Author Learning Center. (n.d.). Genre basics - urban fiction. https://www.authorlearningcenter.com/writing/i-have-an-idea/w/choosing-your-topic/6903/genre-basics-urban-fiction

Becky. (2011, April 20). Special reading interests discussion. Blogger. http://raforall.blogspot.com/2011/04/special-reading-interests-discussion.html

Lyttle, M. A. & Walsh, S. D. (2015, May 5). Separate or keep together? Public Libraries Online. http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2015/05/separate-or-keep-together/

Comments

  1. Tess B.April 14, 2021 at 8:49 AM

    I think you're totally right when you say that a lot of books have LGBTQA+ as a theme and not as a subject/genre. I'm not as familiar with Urban fiction, but if they present as a genre instead of a theme then I think the lines get a little more muddled in terms of direct separation. That being said, by separating out a certain library genre based on "commonalities" is a pretty tricky line to toe. There's not enough direct details or direction that would benefit the Urban fiction genre to separate them successfully and I feel like doing so would lead to arguments (both with staff and the community, depending on the scale of the situation).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Storytime ScribeApril 14, 2021 at 9:32 AM

      Right! That is kind of what I was thinking which lead to my ultimate decision to not pull them out separately. I can see how an argument can be made to pull them out, which is why I outlined it, but I would definitely err on the side of caution.

      Delete
  2. Jennifer MillerApril 15, 2021 at 11:56 AM

    Hi Darla,
    I also opted to feature these books using displays rather than separating them out permanently. I think this allows us to celebrate these books, rather than differentiating them from the rest of the collection. I worry that segregating these books would have a negative impact on readers that identify with them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Storytime ScribeApril 15, 2021 at 5:29 PM

      Jennifer,
      That is exactly what I was thinking, I think it strikes a good balance!

      Delete
  3. Abigail SmithApril 15, 2021 at 5:08 PM

    Hi Darla,
    I like your example of how the LGBTQ label encompasses very different reading experiences. I think if we separate out books with LGBTQ characters its like saying "this is the most important thing about this book" when maybe this book is more about world-building and landscape or notable for its lyrical and poetic prose.

    It's funny I've seen a couple other posts that mention a personal preference for genre separation in general but with professional caveats. Personally, I like it all mixed in together!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Storytime ScribeApril 15, 2021 at 5:33 PM

      Abigail,
      It is kind of funny because when I was really mulling this over I thought about how I used to find books when I was younger and I would love things mixed in to get a variety. Now I am such a stickler for looking things up on the computer, or getting recommendations from social media, that I think I have lost that sense of wonder when getting lost in the stacks! I always get that nostalgic feeling when I am at a small bookstore that mixes everything together. I think I need to loosen up haha.

      Delete
  4. Erin CataldiApril 19, 2021 at 2:27 PM

    I think your reasoning and logic is sound and as always you're very persuasive and well written. Great job looking at the issue from different angles. Full points!

    ReplyDelete

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