Week 14 Prompt Response

     Whether or not to separate out genres in a library is an interesting discussion. At the library that I work at we only have a few genres that are separated from the collection. They used to shelve mysteries separate, but during the height of the pandemic they interfiled them. The choice to separate out what they do truly makes no sense to me. We currently separate out westerns, science fiction, and short stories. I find that this only creates more confusion because patrons do not know and thus miss out on those books. For the prompt this week the conversation revolves around whether or not Urban Fiction and LGBTQ+ Fiction should be separated from the main fiction collection. I have differing opinions on both so I will talk about each separately. 

    For Urban Fiction I lean more towards either separating it out or creating a flyer with the popular authors in the genre. The main reason for this is because Urban Fiction is a genre with distinct characteristics. It is the equivalent of having a romance, mystery, or fantasy sections. I speak from experience that when patrons want these books they seek them out specifically. I have had patrons where this is all they read, so they do not usually come to our branch because we do not have it separated out. This genre is also still relatively niche. I think that having it separated with pamphlets in the aisles to explain what it is could actually help the genre rather than hurt it. The only thing that I have an issue with, in regards to separating out Urban Fiction, is that it does limit discovery. As I mentioned earlier in the post the library that I work at has things separated out and it does limit findability. I think that I have checked out only one Western, a handful of Science Fiction, and no Short Stories to patrons since I started working there close to a year ago. This is why I would personally lean towards doing what my library does do for Urban Fiction which is have lists available of the popular authors within the genre. This allows patrons who just want Urban Fiction to have a list of where to go to find it and still keeps it in the general collection to allow patrons to naturally discover it. 

    For LGBTQ+ Fiction I am vehemently against separating it out from the main collection. The main reasons for this is: it is a broad description that covers books from all genres, it segregates queerness from the main collection, and it can out people. The first reason revolves around the idea of what makes the work in question "LGBTQ+." Is the author queer? Does the book feature a prominent queer character? Does the book have queer themes and subtext? What age ranges would be in this section? What genres would this section cover? As shown by my questions this section would require a lot of thought and would require the librarian to make a ton of choices that would be influenced by their bias. This section would also be huge for the reasons listed above. The idea of LGBTQ+ Fiction is not a genre like Urban Fiction is. LGBTQ+ Fiction does not have defined tropes, does not fall within genre conventions, does not (usually) have set age ranges, and many other aspects. Just from a logistical standpoint this would create more work to do something that the reader is most likely already doing themselves if they want those books. Speaking from my own experience as a nonbinary person who loves to read books with queer characters I am used to seeking out that information on my own. The next main issue I have is that it separates queerness from the main collection. This seeks to other queer people. You are effectively shunning a specific group to one section of the library. By doing this you also limit exposure of queer authors. There are plenty of book that would fall under this classification that wont get read because they are in a special section. The last issue I have with it is that it creates a safety issue. A great thing about the library is that people can seek out materials without judgement. If a library created this section there would have to be a new call number or sticker on the spine, so library staff could shelf the materials properly. This would out people and thus you cut off most of the LGBTQ+ fiction from queer people who are not out of the closet. 

    For both I think that the best way to separate them out for discovery and to better help patrons find what they want to read is by creating both book lists and displays. Book lists effectively do what separating out items does, but allows patrons to opt into it. If a patron knows that they only want Urban or LGBTQ+ Fiction than they can seek out these lists. With displays it allows the library to call attention to these genres while separating them out for only a limited time. It works to allow patrons who want those items an easy place to get them and it allows for people to discover something new. These options have the benefits of separate shelf locations without the drawbacks.