Collections are one of, if not the, most important things in a library. That may seem obvious to say, but the management of a library’s collection is something that is integral to communities in a way we may not fully understand as patrons. This semester, I am in a class aptly titled “Collection Development” that aims to expose library and information science students to the processes and theories surrounding how collections are developed. As we come into Black History Month, I want to bring further awareness to the responsibility that librarians have to underrepresented groups and some of the things we should be conscious of during the collection development process.
Something I have struggled with during my time as a student here at the library is the power that librarians have over their collections. I feel uncomfortable being the person to make those decisions as I am aware of how much I could be missing. However, the alternative would be to, what, have a machine do it? I suppose as AI continues to advance I am probably not that far off, but AI will also need a human’s code behind it, telling it what to pick. So ultimately, the power of choice will most likely always be in the hands of a human, sometimes one individual. And there is a lot of responsibility that comes with that role.