HIT: HAWAII HANDS OVER COLL-DEV

[Pat Wallace <DENWALL@AOL.COM>]

From Pat Wallace (DENWALL@aol.com):

 Early this month  (9/2/96)  I posted a query titled MULTICULTURAL COLLECTION
DEVELOPMENT expressing my concern over what appeared to be a growing
dependency on vendors and lack of interest in supplementing mainstream review
& selection sources with
"alternative press" sources:

> I teach multi-age 1st-3rd in a public school Montessori Magnet in Dallas
>and I'm working on an MLS at Texas Women's University.
>I have been envisioning the task of putting together an excellent and
>highly diverse collection of children's books and
>would like to write my professional paper on this topc.  I am
>seeking input...on a couple of issues:

>1.Using Jobbers:
>...the mainstream publishing industry has waxed and waned in
>..the degree of care exercised in ensuring availability of bias-free
 >culturally authentic children's literature.  Small presses and alternative
>publishers have expended more consistent energy toward this end ...Yet, >the
trend toward ordering through jobbers...grows...This concerns me...
>Yet, when I attempt to discuss this in my
>graduate classes, most just roll their eyes, aghast at the thought of
>bypassing the convenience of using jobbers.

>2. Reviews:
>For a number of reasons, it is hard for librarians to find reviews  by
>reviewers familiar  with the culture  of the ethnic group(s) depicted
>as well as with the standards of high quality literature.  Some say, just
>screen for "quality" but the question is, can inaccurate, ethnocentric,
>stereotypical material constitute high quality children's literature?
>The vast majority of school and children's librarians are white.  Even
>though they are "mandated" to maintain bias-free, multicultural >collections
by district and/or state guidelines, they  don't get much
>help in accessing a variety of reviewing  and acquisition sources .

ON SEPT. 20 I POSTED THIS MESSAGE:

>Let me call your attention to the June '96 issue of School Library
>Journal "News" on pp 10-11: "Hawaii Hands Collection
> Development to Baker and Tayler".....

> "As the result of a groundbreaking arrangement between Baker and
>Taylor and the Hawaii State Library, the book wholesaler has begun to
>select, catalog, and process 100 percent of public library collections
>on all six islands....B & T has assigned a team of 18 to do collection
>development...B & T President Jim Ulsamer told SLJ that 'quite a number'
>have library degrees...The team will use standard reviewing sources..."

 I came to Texas 3 years ago from California  where I last taught first grade
to a classroom 40% non-English speaking refugees --Hmong,
E. European, Central American-- and the rest mostly African-American
 & Hispanic who spoke their own unique variants of English.  98%  of the
parents were on welfare.   There was no library in that school.  I bought my
own books to read to the kids and I could only find one translation of
a Hmong folktale. You can't work with a group of children like that and
NOT be willing to ask hard questions about how we can best serve the needs of
an increasingly diverse population.  Could a Baker and Taylor serve  a school
like that with a plug-in  collection?

 The news re Hawaii  suggests that we do have to start debating
this as a profession before sliding down the slippery slope into
corporate selections.  I  have found little interest in these issues at
 TWU.   I attend  lectures in Technical Services and hear my professor deride
those who would not want to switch over to collection development via
vendors. Moreover, not a single student questions this stance.
Few, if any SLIS programs  regularly offer a course in multicultural
collection development.  You would never know a whole raft of things from
sitting through classes  at TWU, e.g. that most American urban school and
public libraries serve a population which is already majority non-white or
fast-approaching that point.  That these same populations may speak as many
as 40 different languages in some areas   The inadequacy of mainstream
reviewing and acquistion sources are never mentioned by the
professors in any of my classes (and I've taken 18 units so far).

   I made this post because I'm starved for some meaningful discussion of
these essential issues.  I posted my messages to these listservs:  LM_NET,
PUBYAC (Public  Libraries serving children & youth), PLGNET (Progressive
Librarians),  RPE-L (Restructuring Public Education),  MULTC-ED, and  the
McPavilion discussion.  Most responses came from the first two, but this
series of HITS covers posts from all.  The responses
have been thoughtful, in some cases passionate, and based on a rich variety
of library settings.  I am very grateful to all of you for entering
into this dialog.  I hope that in some way it continues.

 Pat Wallace      Harry Stone Montessori Magnet Academy     Dallas, TX

I  have divided  my  HIT  into several parts to make it more maneageable
to load and read and I'll be posting them over the next several days. This
first  post  is  from  Librarians in Hawaii and from the author of the
original article in SLJ.

POST #1:  Diane Nakano--nakano@kalama.doe.Hawaii.Edu
Salt Lake Elementary School /Hon. HI/ Sat, Sep 21, '96

 >I'd like to point out that this policy holds ONLY for the
 State  PUBLIC  libraries.  The PUBLIC SCHOOL libraries are under
 a different office and continue to make their own book selections.
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POST#2: Candace Foster/candacef@kalama.doe.hawaii.edu
Librarian/ Aina Haina Elementary/  Honolulu, HI
Fri, Sep 20, '96

 >I have talked to some public librarians here who are
aghast over this development,  but feel unable to talk openly.
The school libraries in Hawaii still are doing their own ordering.
We do use  Baker & Taylor as our centralized source, but can order anything
 from their catalogs that we need, and can expend a
certain percentage of our monies with any vendor that we choose.

 >Many years ago (in the early 70's) I opened a brand-new
school library here in Hawaii with a collection of books chosen
from  approved  lists by the vendor who had won the bid.   The
collection,   while perfect for a new elementary school located
in a community of our size on the East coast perhaps, was almost
totally wrong for our school.   NONE of the books were about Hawaii,
or had Pacific  based information. Over 25% featured African-
American children . .which was great for cultural diversity at the
time, but neglected to address the fact that my school had zero
African-American kids, and about 75% Asian/Pacific descent.
Vendors from outside really  cannot adequately gauge the needs
 of the library clientele!
**********************************************************

POST #3: Marguerite K. Ashford--mashford@punahou.edu
Cooke Library, Punahou School/ Honolulu, Hawaii /
Fri, Sep 20, 1996

 >I'm  the librarian at  a  private school in Hawaii.  Believe
me, there is significant concern here over the State Librarian's
decision to outsource collection development and cataloging,
not only among the librarians, but in the general population
as well.  Letters to the Editor, articles in our two local news-
papers, etc. have all expressed concern over this decision.

 >While the collection development people at Baker & Taylor
may be consummate professionals,  some collection development
needs to take place*locally*.  Particularly in Hawaii, where there
are *strong regional and ethnic interests* that may vary widely
from branch to branch, as well as factors relating to the community (whether
the public school library is adequate, how far people have
to travel to a regional library, bookmobile availability,etc.).  The
community knowledge of the local librarian can be a vital factor in
developing an appropriate collection.

 >I should note that the Hawaii State Library System has taken
a heavy budget hit over the last year or two, and that one of the
justifications given for this decision is that it allows the State
Librarian to take some of the warm bodies who were doing behind-
the-scenes collection development and cataloging and put them on
the public service front line.

 >We here in Hawaii appreciate the concern and the interest expressed by our
fellow professionals in the rest of the United
States and around the world. It reinforces once more the impor-
tance of a vehicle such as this listserv.
**********************************************************

POST #4:  Kelly King--keking@MAKANI.K12.HI.US
Chair, Hawaii State Board of Education  Committee on Public Libraries (Newly
formed)
To: RPE-L@uhccvm.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Restructuring Public Education Discussion
List)/  Tue, Sep 24, 1996

 >The Hawaii State Board of Education, which oversees the
Public Library System here, has received some complaints from
local librarians about the outsourcing of materials.  State Librarian
 Bart Kane recognizes there are problems with materials selections
and, I believe, is working with Baker and Taylor to coordinate input
from local librarians.  The system is new and there are kinks to be
worked out,  to be sure, but in retrospect,  I do agree that there was not
enough discussion during approval of the outsourcing. Now that we are here,
with a contract to honor, we are cognizant of problems and will work to iron
them out. Feel free to request periodic updates...!

**********************************************************

POST #5:  Renee Olson--ROLSON@SLJ.CAHNERS.COM
News and Features Editor / School Library Journal
Mon, Sep 23, 1996

>I'm pleased to hear of your desire to discuss Hawaii's decision to
shift  collection development to B & T. (I wrote the news story in
SLJ.)

>I  invite you (and any of your colleagues) to write a Letter to the
Editor  in order to reach a large, interested audience. Letters can be
sent via e-mail to slj@cahners.com.
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