Year in Review 2020: Circulation Materials Survey via LJ with EDI Conversation Starter

Earlier this month, Library Journal posted its annual Circulation Materials Survey for the last year here.

Please take a look at  it when you have time. This is data that is helpful to anyone who works with adult leisure readers.

Much of what is here is not going to be shocking news to anyone, but it is important to have hard data from across the country to back up local, anecdotal stories.

I use this information in my programs, especially some of the side by side comparisons like the image you see here on the left. There is a comparable one for Nonfiction. Every year this info is updated and you can see National trends on what genres check out the most. 

However, some of the content is problematic. Hoffert talks about "Black Books" as a genre, and anyone who has ever heard me t all has heard me say that a person's identity is NOT A GENRE.

I have to say that I am disappointed that the magazine let something so overtly racist out, but I will also say that I am on the record publicly and with LJ that I think Hoffert needs to retire. And I have been saying this for  years. 

This article would be a great starting point for a meeting between those who do adult RA and Collection Development, especially if those people are in different departments. Good RA Service is impossible without working in tandem with Collection Development staff. They don't have to be in the same department, but they do need to meet up a few times a year [at least] and chat. 

A report like this one is especially good because it has data we can use and is a great starting point to having important EDI conversations. Sometimes it is easier to start these hard conversation with an example. Here is one for you. This annual Circulation Materials Survey should be the jumping off point  to those conversations.