Inclusive Collecting, Inclusive Cataloging Acquiring and Describing Award-winning Books Honoring Diverse Experiences

Abstract

While libraries have always had a mission of collecting materials to serve their users, in the last few decades this mission has been more explicitly focused on the diverse identities represented within the collection. As purchasing has shifted toward more automated models, such as e-book packages and demand-driven acquisitions, there is a need to supplement these strategies with deliberate selection of works that will bring the collection closer to being inclusive. This article describes a joint project of Temple University Libraries’ Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee and Metadata and Digitization Services (MADS) department. The intent of this project was to make both the OPAC and the collection more useful, welcoming, and inclusive. The project has two main components: purchasing winners and finalists of awards representing diverse populations and then enhancing records to ensure that these works are cataloged in a way that accurately highlights those identities. Winners of selected awards are labeled as a distinct collection in the catalog. In the first year of the project, the collection included 290 titles, of which 45 percent were already part of the main library’s circulating print collection. Temple University Libraries has marketed the collection using signage and social media posts.