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Editor’s note: This article is based on a contributed paper from MLA/SLA ‘23.
Background
University of Houston Libraries is a large academic research library system that serves the University of Houston (UH) community across its three Houston-area campuses, consisting of seven academic colleges and 10 professional schools with nearly 47,000 students and more than 2,800 faculty. It is the second-most ethnically diverse research university in the U.S. With long-established health sciences programs in optometry, pharmacy, and social work, a college of nursing was added in 2015 and an allopathic medical school was established in 2019. As a public Tier One research university(1), the Libraries’ primary focus is supporting the research activities of its large and diverse academic community.
The UH Libraries system comprises five libraries, of which the inclusive Health Sciences Libraries department (HSL) is a part of. The HSL department consists of two library locations: the Health Sciences Library and the Medical Library, both opened in the past six years with separate physical locations on the main UH campus. The Heath Science Library's major liaison areas include communication sciences and disorders, health and human performance, health education, nursing, optometry, pharmacy, and social work. The Medical Library is attached to and exclusively supports the college of medicine. The HSL department shares utilities such as the library catalog, discovery, interlibrary loan, access to numerous electronic resources, and a budget with the other libraries in the UH Libraries system. The opening of the inclusive Health Sciences Library in 2018 presented an opportunity to augment, update, and diversify the collection and the establishment of the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine (TJFFCOM) in 2019 presented a unique opportunity to actively engage in inclusive collection development and build a representative collection for the Medical Library.
Despite ongoing efforts to dismantle DEI initiatives in higher education and the increased every-day constraints of limited staff, time, and budgets, inclusive collection development has been and remains a professional priority of both authors; a then early-career health sciences librarian identifying as a person of color and a white mid-career health sciences librarian. We describe lessons learned and strategies used to overcome obstacles in conducting the work to diversify our libraries’ collections. Although we each joined UH Libraries at different times and at different stages of our careers, including differing levels of collection development experience, as purpose-minded colleagues we collaborated to assess our collections’ strengths and weaknesses and align our practices to develop library offerings that are complementary and representative rather than duplicative and exclusive.
Many of these tactics will likely be familiar to readers and part of their typical approach to collection development and to librarianship in general. Our intention in surfacing them here is to encourage selectors and administrators to think about ways these strategies can be applied to the specific work of diversifying health sciences library collections. We hope that this reflection contributes our own perspectives and experiences to the growing body of literature on this important topic.
Challenges and Strategies
In the process of working toward more equitable and representative collections, we faced several challenges that may seem familiar to others, particularly early-career librarians and those new to health sciences collection development. Our primary areas of concern were knowing what resources to consult; figuring out what exists and how to find it; deciding what criteria to use to make purchasing decisions and how to identify priorities; and establishing a balanced budget. To address these challenges, we implemented several intentional strategies. Our approach was an iterative one, conducted both individually and together.
Identify the primary users of the collection
Whether diversifying an existing collection or developing a new one, we recognized that it was essential to determine the scope and make-up of the collection’s audience and whether any voices or interests were currently being excluded. To determine our respective user bases’ breadth and depth, we had conversations with students, faculty, and administrators in the schools or departments we supported about the programs of study and their scope.
Considerations for assessment and prioritization
With the establishment of the Health Sciences Library in 2018, it was necessary to both augment and update the small collection. Certain aspects of this work were straightforward; a start-up budget was allocated that allowed the purchase of all core resources needed to support the health sciences programs served. Despite the healthy financial allocation, it was challenging to select materials without clear collection development guidelines. A detailed discussion of the importance of a collection development policy and how its absence affects collection development practices is beyond the scope of this article, but we must note that this ended up being one of the greatest challenges during the start-up of the Health Sciences Library and later, the Medical Library. We relied heavily on vetted selection aids and vendor resources to identify essential resources, which we shared at the end.
We found it helpful to engage in targeted, if informal, initiatives to identify perspectives missing from our collection in order to begin incorporating a wider range of creator identities. As noted above, engaging in conversations with students, faculty, and other community users was essential; here we were particularly interested in the successes and challenges they experienced when using library collections as feedback on where they saw gaps in library holdings. Circulation statistics and interlibrary loan requests also provided useful evidence for the value of augmenting the collection to include a wider range of identities and perspectives.
Explore budget questions
A serious consideration that has only become more prevalent and timelier in recent years and can affect all aspects of collection development is budgeting. To achieve the ultimate goal of representing a range of identities and perspectives, we aimed to strike a balance between anticipating future areas of interest, purchasing current curriculum-specific materials, and preserving funding for unexpected requests. Pursuing opportunities to de-homogenize the collection while balancing limited funds, we were open to evaluating and accepting donations of library materials.
In late 2019, we accepted a personal library donation of medical humanities materials. Of the initial 1,179 items presented, we accepted 224. These materials formed the basis of the Health Sciences Libraries health humanities collection. Beginning a collection that has a base formed by donated materials can be a double-edged sword; assessing the materials for value and quality can be time consuming but can also be helpful if there is interest but not much funding in establishing a humanities collection.
Build a network
Collection development, and specifically the work to diversify a library’s collection, is collaborative and cannot be done in a vacuum. We recognize that no solitary collection developer can possess an expert understanding of the spectrum of identities and perspectives that should be represented on a health sciences library’s shelves. Teaming up and collaborating with others helped negate uncertainty in selecting materials.
Weekly team meetings, along with individual meetings in which collection building was a point of discussion were indispensable. Maintaining constant communication via chat and emails, along with sharing resources, helped create a more cohesive shared collection building and management approach across our department. Additionally, a spreadsheet of the current collection holdings of the Health Sciences Library was used to inform selection decisions for the new Medical Library collection, and another shared potential purchase spreadsheet was disseminated for comment, feedback, and discussion. Engaging in collaborative resource sharing and consulting with colleagues, even if decision-making on material selection is unilateral, contributes to the creation of partnership and the culture of shared investment in equitable collection development and management.
Conclusion
Collection development practices are at the core of our work as library professionals. Whether or not we are directly responsible for the development of library collections and practices in our institutions, we all engage in building, administering, preserving, assessing, and organizing library collections on some level in our everyday work. As such, we have a duty to foster inclusive, diverse, and representative collections that both support and reflect user identities and perspectives.
Cultivating health sciences collections, especially those that are equity-focused and inclusive can be challenging, especially for librarians without a strong collection development or health sciences background. Additionally, the added pressure of budgetary constraints and lack of institutional support, namely in clear collection management policies and guidelines, can make this experience even more difficult. Focusing on equity and collaborating with colleagues, librarians can establish clear priorities and guidelines in establishing inclusive and representative collections. Using the resources available, vendor materials, institutional and professional knowledge, and collection building materials fosters the establishment of a collection management philosophy and approach that reflects the needs of librarians’ liaison areas in an equitable, inclusive, and diverse manner. To begin diversifying collections or conducting an equity audit, start by exploring some of the tips and resources listed below.
References
1. “Basic Classification,” American Council on Education, accessed April 29, 2024, https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/carnegie-classification/classification-methodology/basic-classification/.
DCT Featured Article – May 14, 2024
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