Title: A House Divided? Two Views on Genre Separation
Abstract: In the spring of 2006, a spirited debate on the merits of separating out library fiction collections by genre was held on the Fiction_L discussion list (subscribe at www.webrary.org/rs/ FLmenu.html). Interesting points were made on both sides of the issue, and while no firm conclusions were reached, the discussion exemplified the thought and passion that readers' advisors bring to their work. This issue's column features two articles that present each of the sides in the ongoing question of how to best present a collection that will best serve the reading interests of library users. Looking at the concerns about separating out genre collections is Barry Trott. He is Adult Services Director at the Williamsburg (Va.) Regional Library, past chair of the RUSA CODES Readers' Advisory Committee, and series editor for Libraries Unlimited's Read On ... series. Writing on the value of genre separation is Vicki Novak, who earned her MLS from the University of Arizona and has worked for fifteen years at the Maricopa County Library District in Phoenix. She wrote the chapter, Story's the Thing: Narrative Nonfiction for Recreational Reading for Nonfiction Readers' Advisory, published by Libraries Unlimited in 2004, edited by Robert Burgin. Trott and Novak are both active participants in the discussion of readers' advisory (RA) theory and practice on the Fiction_L discussion list--Editor A recent New Yorker cartoon depicts a bookstore clerk talking to two men. The clerk is saying, no longer shelve gay fiction separately. It's been assimilated. (1) It has been an accepted truth in readers' advisory (RA) that separating out genres from the rest of the fiction collection is the best mechanism for serving readers who come into our libraries. Sharon Baker, in The Responsive Public Library: How to Develop and Market a Winning Collection, gives an excellent summary of the research done on genre separation and shelving. (2) Her work makes a compelling case for separating out fiction genres in library collections. However, as increasing numbers of authors are crossing genres from book to book and publishing titles that encompass multiple genres in a single work, practitioners of RA may consider rethinking how they use genre classification in their practice. It may be that our goal of serving genre fiction readers has unintended consequences for all our readers and for the practice of RA. There are several issues to consider when looking at whether to interfile fiction collections or to separate out the various genres. Among these are problems in defining genre, the stigmatization of genres, time and space issues, and the role of the readers' advisor. In all of these cases, it is worth examining the effect of separating out genres from the rest of the fiction collection. DEFINING GENRES There is no question that genre provides a way to describe and access certain types of writing. Even Ursula K. Le Guin, who is no fan of the use of genre, notes, concept of genre is a valid one. We need a method for sorting out and defining varieties of narrative fiction, and genre gives us a tool to begin the job. (3) As readers' advisors, we need to understand genre, for it is in analyzing genres that we come to understand the stylistic elements that authors use that will appeal to readers--of fantasy, Westerns, romances, mysteries, and so on. Here the idea of genre is useful because it defines a set of precepts that describe a certain style of writing. This knowledge will then allow us as readers' advisors to connect readers to books that they will enjoy In fact, it is an understanding of what the appeals of a particular genre are that will allow us to make connections between books and authors that may be separated by genre classification. For instance, a classic appeal of the Western genre is the story of the lone hero, struggling to right an imbalance created by a monolithic evil (be it a land-hungry cattle baron, a rapacious outlaw, or the impersonal and unfeeling machinations of banks and railroads). …
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-12-22
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 7
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