By Jessica Bower
Religion is a topic closely related to diversity and multiculturalism. Especially since different cultures have different religions and the United States protects freedom of religion. Separation of church and state has long been a hot topic in not just the United States but in other countries as well. Not only is it one of the issues our country was founded around, it is still a topic of discussion today. Since many public libraries are government funded, this directly relates to libraries and librarians. As a progressive librarian I believe that collections in public libraries should reflect all religious interests of the community it serves.
One topic of discussion is the classification of religious items. In an article by L. Sulistyo-Basuki published in 2008, the topic of the classification of Islamic materials became an issue in an Indonesian library. The library uses the Dewy Decimal system of classification but this system did not provide enough breadth for the topic of the number one religion in their country. In fact, the 15th edition of the Dewy Decimal system did not even have a classification for Islam, instead it used the term “Mohammadism” which did not seem appropriate. Eventually the classification was changed and expanded but this article sheds light on the fact that these types of issues can be sensitive and need to be addressed. (Sulistyo-Basuki 89-101)
References
American Library Association (2011). ALA Policy Manual. Retrieved from
Sulistyo-Basuki, L., et. al., Indonesian Librarians' Efforts to Adapt and Revise the Dewey
Decimal Classification (DDC)'s Notation 297 on Islam. Malaysian Journal of Library &
Information Science v. 13 no. 2 (December 2008) p. 89-101
Scales, P. Reuniting Church and State [Clergy Member on Our Materials Review Committee].
School Library Journal v. 53 no. 5 (May 2007) p. 30
Religion and intellectual freedom: divine revelation in the marketplace of ideas. Newsletter on
Intellectual Freedom v. 54 no. 6 (November 2005) p. 270-2, 308-14
I personally do not care for the DDC at all for a number of reasons. I feel it is antiquitated and offensively biased to anyone who actually realizes just how little space is given for Non-Western European subjects. 20% of the religion section is allocated to non-Christian belief systems. That's right folks, all the other world religions get 20%. That personally offends me because I want information on all the religions! As a rural library, I think we get away with it more than other libraries, but we have a very small selection of anything besides Christian materials. If you want something else, you have to get it through MelCat. What kind of message does this send to patrons, to our community?
ReplyDeleteOops that post doesn't have my name on it. Posted by Joanna Sturgeon.
ReplyDeleteYou are right Joanna. In reality all classification systems have limits and need to be updated from time to time. It's unfortunate that this topic is not looked at more frequently. It seems they mostly come up through controversy.
ReplyDelete-Jessica Bower
I agree that all religions should be represented (and equally), and I believe this is why the role of the librarian (and being open minded) is so important. In most cases it is the librarian that is ordering the materials for that section, and I think they need to make sure that they are ordering a diverse collection of materials that reflects the diversity of the world. At the very least for informations sake. I know that the ethnic build of your community also reflects what materials are purchased, but I really believe that it is a librarians job to make sure that all sides of all subjects are represented.
ReplyDeleteRobert Neil
I want to respond to and echo what Robert wrote, and then bring up an issue that (to me) presents itself under that same umbrella.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Robert - in the role of steward of material ordering, a librarian must ensure that the library's collection represents diverse cultures and religions. What makes me scratch my head is how librarians manage balance the following two ideas/concepts:
1. that a library's collection represent - equally, as though not to be imbalanced - many/various religions, cultures, etc.; and
2. that a library's collection reflect the immediate and stated or articulated needs of the population that it serves, which is unavoidably always complex (i.e., geographic as well as demographic)
I'm thinking about the article we read in one of the earlier weeks of class about the future library in Abu Dhabi (http://www.uaeinteract.com/docs/ADACH_introduces_Your_future_Abu_Dhabi_library/39934.htm).
It seems that, more and more, to keep their place and relevance in our (changing) society, libraries are constantly molding to better serve patrons. They want to always reflect the needs of patrons. (Which is understandable.)
But what do library stewards (i.e., librarians) do when the needs of the patrons lead a library's collection to a state of imbalance? In other words, what if there is NO need or requirement expressed by the patron audience FOR any diverse materials? How does a librarian balance the two concepts outlined above? Does one take priority over the other? Who evaluates, and how?
This post helped to remind me how important it is a future librarian to keep an open mind, and be able to recognize other religions (and cultures) different from my own and what I'm used to. This IS important when it comes to ordering materials. I had no idea the Dewey Decimal System was so antiquated when it comes to the topic of religion. I will definitely be checking that out when I go to work tomorrow and see what kinds of religions we have available. I do know that there is a large Jewish community near where I work and we make sure to provide for them.
ReplyDelete