Senior Librarian The Learning Center/Patient Educaion Houston, Texas
Background: The Learning Center is the patient education/consumer health library at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The library maintains a private "controversial bookshelf" consisting of books that were ordered, but upon review deemed not appropriate to add to the circulating collection. This poster will outline the process that goes into making these collection development decisions, as well as the practical purposes for maintaining these shelves of controversial books.
Description: The librarians utilize common collection development methods for finding and ordering materials, including industry library review journals, searching/browsing bookselling websites, news, and popular media, for example. Collection development policy standards state that only items which align with the hospital's scientific and evidence-based practices will be added to the circulating collection. Occasionally, books are ordered which appear to align with these high standards, but upon close review contain controversial passages. These titles include those which have received numerous positive reviews including "starred" reviews from library journals. After library staff completes their review and a title is rejected, the title and reason(s) for rejection are shared with all staff. The title is added to a private LibGuide, which has these reasons categorized and defined for easy organization. The books are then stored on shelves in staff offices for future reference if necessary.
Conclusion: Although some of these rejected titles received rave reviews including from fellow authors, library review journals, news media, and readers, it is still incumbent upon medical librarians who have high collection development standards to critically review all items upon receipt. This library's private LibGuide assists in collection development efforts by outlining and defining categorical reasons for rejection to the circulating collection. These books are a useful tool for training new staff, as well as demonstrating to interested or concerned parties the types of materials that cannot be added and circulated per this hospital library's standards.
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