Guest post by Noa Kaumeheiwa, Karen Kohn, and Jenny Pierce

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion sub-committee of the Collections Strategic Steering Team (CSST) aims to identify and implement collections practices that ensure Temple Libraries proactively acquire materials by and about under-represented groups and support the publication activities of these groups. While we did not initially have data to show that our collections were inadequately representing marginalized people, this was a safe assumption. After talking to staff at ProQuest and Lehigh University about their processes of purchasing from independent, BIPOC-owned booksellers, the DEI sub-committee decided to pursue a similar project.  

The choice to work with a local, independent seller was to benefit from their expertise in identifying works centering BIPOC and other marginalized groups and to support them financially by making purchases there. In the spring of 2023, Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee and Books in Germantown became the first bookseller identified for the project. Described by the Philadelphia Bookstore Map as selling “Books that highlight & celebrate authors & voices from the Black community & other marginalized peoples,” Uncle Bobbie’s is an independent and BIPOC-owned bookstore. Our expectation was that the books purchased through this initiative would be those we might not discover through standard collection development methods and vendor systems, particularly if they came from independent publishers. 

Many staff have been involved in making this initiative work. Brian Schoolar, Head, Acquisitions & Collection Development, allocated a modest amount of money annually to this program. Every few weeks, Tom Davis, Bibliographic Assistant II, Acquisitions & Collection Development, checks Uncle Bobbie’s website for updates to their list of new releases and copies information to a spreadsheet. Each quarter, a pair of volunteers choose approximately thirty books to purchase. Lori Bradley, Bibliographic Assistant III, Acquisitions & Collection Development, then places the orders on Bookshop.org, which directs profits to Uncle Bobbie’s. 

With the first year of the project ending, the DEI committee wanted to review our purchases to better understand how the initiative affected our collections. We also solicited feedback from those involved in the project to assess the processes. 

There were 112 books ordered in FY2023-24. About half of these, 55 books, had call numbers in Literature. There were 18 books in Social Sciences, on topics ranging from police and prisons to transgender people to interracial adoption. Twelve books were in History mostly focused on African American History. There were 4 music books, relating to punk, jazz, and hip hop, and 3 books on education. The remaining 20 were scattered across subject areas. 

The many literature books include 10 books of poetry. Biography was another popular genre, with 24 books purchased. Slightly more than half the books (63) have a subject heading relating to African American or Black people, while 12 relate to LGBTQ people. 

One of the strengths of independent bookstores is their ability to promote independent publishers not owned by one of the major companies such as Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, or HarperCollins. We were happy to find that 40% of the books we purchased were from independent publishers, as our usual methods of purchasing can miss these. 

Although this initiative brought in some books that may not be considered traditional academic literature, selectors chose books they thought would be relevant to research or to students’ personal lives. Examples include: Rikers: An Oral History; Historically Black phrases : from “I ain’t one of your lil’ friends” to “Who all gon’ be there?”; Biting the Hand: Growing up Asian in Black and White America; and Am I Trans Enough? : How to Overcome Your Doubts and Find Your Authentic Self. While there is not enough circulation data to evaluate yet, the project has been successful in acquiring books about marginalized people covering a variety of subject areas, including many we would not have discovered through our approval plans. 

For our second year of ordering from Uncle Bobbie’s, we opened our call for volunteer selectors to all of Temple University Libraries and University Press. More than half of last year’s selectors have expressed interest in participating again, and nine new people have volunteered. Acquisitions staff member Tom Davis says that compiling the lists for selectors to choose from is one of the most meaningful parts of his job. The DEI group is pleased with the project and appreciates everyone who continues to help make it run smoothly.