Including EDI Within Library Collection Development Policies

Collection development policies demonstrate the direction that a library is taking to ensure that they are reflective of their users and their wider organisational direction. In academic institutions it also supports the curriculum to ensure that the collections reflect current practice and learning. This document covers guidance of what libraries can include in their collection polices around equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI). It also includes examples of current best practices to aid institutions in the development of their own policies. Members of the SCURL EDI Network have searched each SCURL library and analysed each policy that could be found for inclusion of EDI elements. They have also looked for best practice examples from the wider UK.

This guidance has taken recommendations from Kevin Wilson’s chapter entitled Decolonising library collections: contemporary issues, practical steps and examples from London School of Economics (Crilly, Jess and Everitt, Regina, (eds.) Narrative Expansions: Interpreting Decolonisation in Academic Libraries. Facet, London, pp.225-250). This chapter advises that libraries involve different members of staff from the library and also include EDI colleagues. This is to ensure that the policy promotes EDI throughout and does not discriminate against any groups. Wilson also recommends not relying on the current policy when trying to include EDI elements and to start from scratch to ensure that EDI is at the core.

The guidance is divided into different areas that typically appear in collection development policies with suggestions of what can be included, or institutions can consider developing EDI centric policies.

Strategic Context:

• Link to institution’s strategic priorities relating to equity, diversity and inclusion to centre this at the heart of the policy

• Commitment to drive collection development around EDI

• Involvement of the institutional community to shape the collections to ensure they are diverse and accessible for all

Current collection:

• Reflect on the current collection and identify any bias there may be due to historic institutional structures and values, referencing any institutional history statements or acknowledgements

• When describing the strengths of the collection also acknowledge limitations and identify gaps relating to EDI

Selection Criteria:

• Include any patron driven acquisition but acknowledge biases within these systems. For PDA to help with EDI they have to include a good proportion of diverse content within them. As Wilson describes, it is unclear whether algorithms could be biased and libraries are also unaware of a patron’s background when selecting material

• Acknowledge unconscious bias of librarians selecting material

• If you do this, describe any allocation of budget for areas such as LGBTQ+, race and identity to ensure that these areas are sufficiently represented

• Cover exploring smaller, niche publishers to ensure diverse content covering global perspectives

• Describe any work around reading lists and working with academics to diversify / decolonise their lists and how this is also shaping your collections

Controversial Material:

• Acknowledge that the collection may contain material with outdated terminology and/or controversial and/or harmful views

• Describe ways in which you may be dealing with material such as tagging content and acknowledging historical language. Approaches will differ according to the type of institution and the collections held

• Include ethical guidelines you may use as part of your collection decisions

• If your library tags content, provide a clear and simple mechanism for library users to flag controversial and/or harmful material

Cataloguing:

• Include any work around subject headings, cataloguing ethics that supports work within EDI

• Acknowledge any limitations with the classification systems, subject headings etc. that you are using (some resources in this area about the limitations include a paper entitled Quantifying Bias in Library Classification Systems and a blog around Diversity, equity, & inclusion in the library’s online catalog which includes subject headings)

• If you are using any glossaries to support work in this area (such as the Homosaurus, Inclusive Terminology Glossary or the SCURL toolkit glossary) include them in your policy

Accessibility:

• Include information about reasonable adjustments, and alternative formats

Discarding stock:

• Consider more than statistics as part of decision making when weeding collections and think about including EDI elements into retaining stock to make sure collections remain and continue to be diverse

Donations:

• Include in donation statements that the library will accept material that will strengthen areas of EDI where the collection is potentially weak

Examples of current best practices:

The following collection policies are good examples of where EDI is highlighted and woven through their documents.

• Glasgow School of Art

  This policy introduces 8 principles that will inform their collection purchasing. These principals structure the rest of the policy where they state how they will fulfil each one. These principles allows them focus on their commitment to EDI and they describe their commitment to diversifying their collections and how they are practically doing this. There is also a section on supporting additional needs and alternative formats.

• The London School of Economics and Political Science

  This policy covers equity, diversity and inclusion and supporting decolonisation of the curriculum in detail. They ensure it is at the heart of the policy by situating this information immediately after the introduction. Cataloguing of material is also described including limitations and links to the cataloguing code of ethics. This policy also mentions retaining stock if it supports their commitment of diverse and inclusive collections.

• University of the Arts London

  Within the introduction to the policy they state their commitment to diversity and decolonising the curriculum. Under selection criteria, they cover increasing diversity of authors and narratives, accessibility, purchasing in different languages to increase diversity and wider geographic coverage. They also acknowledge a need to work with smaller publishers to increase diversity and have a section covering accessibility. Student and staff participation is also included in relation to diversifying the collections.

Bibliography:

Wilson, Kevin (2021) Decolonising library collections: contemporary issues, practical steps and examples from London School of Economics. In: Crilly, Jess and Everitt, Regina, (eds.) Narrative Expansions: Interpreting Decolonisation in Academic Libraries. Facet, London, UK, 225 - 250. ISBN 9781783304974

Open access version via: https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/113347/

If you have suggestions of resources you think should be included in this toolkit, please contact the SCURL EDI group via the contact form.

Review cycle: Links and guidance to be reviewed on an annual basis. Next review date August 2024.