This month's column by Manitowoc (WI) Public Library Youth Librarian Susie Menk explores questions about how far we go in our research during book selection to determine authenticity in content. And she's wondering....what do you think?
 |
| Pixabay image |
Recently, I received a box of books to preview from a new book vendor. I have always appreciated being able to actually look at the books when making decisions about ordering. It’s so much more satisfying that just reading reviews and hoping you are picking something that your patrons will love.
This particular box happened to have several books on Native Americans. Having taken several classes and workshops about diversity and inclusion, I was more thorough about looking these books over and evaluating whether their representation is authentic or not. As I looked through the book I was struck by the credit statements in the front pages that the images used came from stock photos on the internet. As I continued to look through the end pages, there were very few resources listed in the bibliography as well. Immediately my antennae went up! I decided to do some digging into the author. As I searched the American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL) site, I couldn’t find the author listed or the titles of the books. I also checked the CCBC Diversity Book Finder and there was nothing there. More red flags went up!
Then I looked for more information on the author.. The author had no visible ties or any information listing that they identified as a Native American. While I know that authors can write on a variety of topics, there were just too many red flags for me to ignore–lack of resources, stock photos, and an author not identifying as Native American. These red flags led me to question the authenticity of the material and eventually I decided not to purchase the book.
So my question for you is—how much time do you spend looking carefully at the books you order to determine if the book is authentic? In this particular case, I could do a more in-depth search since I had the book in front of me. What happens when you are just reading a review? Most reviews are short paragraphs. How does a reviewer cover everything they need to share about a book in such a short amount of words? How do you balance taking time to verify a book’s authenticity and getting other projects or work done in a timely manner? Do you rely heavily on the written reviews or do you have specific reviewers that you use whose judgment you trust?
2 comments:
I am happy to note that the author's heritage is often included in reviews these days. This has shortened the need for in-depth "tracking" considerably. I do like to know-- especially for books about indigenous people. My time saver is to choose the ones that are already recommended and lauded as high quality stories or non-fiction from reputable sources such as those you cited. I try to let someone else do the work for me as much as possible.
Wina Mortenson, Galesville Public Library, Wisconsin
Hi Wina,
Thanks for sharing. Authenticity is definitely something we need to keep in mind these days. Time savers like vetted sources or reviewers really help us collectors out. It's great to share these resources so we all can use them!
Susie
Post a Comment