Bestselling Books of Year So Far and EDI Implications

Last week when I gave the latest version of my EDI and RA talk, I said to the group  that I felt like it was the first time of my giving this talk in over 2 years when I thought everyone on the webinar was ready to listen. I mean really listen. 

I could tell because I did not get the "questions" I usually would be inundated with about "how" to add diverse titles or how to find diverse suggestion options. I put questions in quotes in that sentence because most were excuses as to why people couldn't diversify their collections or why people couldn't suggest #OwnVoice titles or why it wasn't their fault. They were never really questions just reasons to not take responsibility for microaggressions, systemic racism, and keeping white the norm. [By the way the definition of "systemic" means it's everywhere and everyone's fault, even if you aren't doing it on purpose. I even use an example of a POC's admitted microaggressions.]

White library ladies [the majority of our profession] are starting to be ready to look at themselves and assess how they have hurt the cause, how being not racist is not enough. Being actively antiracist is the only way forward.

Notice I say "starting." As I say in my presentation, we still have a lot of wok to do. 

Here is perfect example. Last week the official Book Scan numbers for the best selling books of the first half of the year came out. You can read the full report via Publisher's Weekly here. But here is the graphic for Adult-Print:

You can click the image to see it on their site.

Please note that "White Fragility" has outsold "How to Be an Antiracist" by over 100,000! The first book is by a white lady and is the opposite of how we should be acting. White Fragility is a microaggression where we white people make excuses about why we were racist without knowing it and then ask POC to help us be better.

Asking POC to do the work to make you not racist is not helpful; in fact, it is a symptom and sign of systematic racism.

Even worse, many of you have already forgotten the "American Dirt" debacle. [Click here for a refresher] The fact that it is still ahead of "How to Be an Antiracist," is the definition of HOW NOT TO BE ANTIRACIST.

Look, I get it. American Dirt had a head start here. But these numbers are not stagnating in this new post-George Floyd moment [see below for  a discussion of current bestselling rankings]. I was on a webinar with over 1,000 library people and someone was actually recommending "American Dirt" in the chat. This was a week ago! No one called her on it until I did. 

I am posting this PW article and the charts about the bestselling books of the year so far both to remind you that your work is not done when it comes to fighting for antiracist collections and services but also to use as a resource.

Look, "bestsellers" is a genre. Not in the traditional sense of the word, but rather in the way people actually read. [You can click here for a longer discussion of this point by me.] Many readers use the bestsellers list as their only resource to find books to read. The argument is, "well lots of people bought it, so it must be good." You can see how that can go very badly here. 

You need to always be aware of the bestsellers list. I always suggest using the USA Today Best-Selling Books List as the best one to use because it reflects actual sales without categories.

You need to know what your patrons are seeing on these lists not just to anticipate demand [which used to be the only reason people checked] but also to understand that some bestsellers might not fit in your current EDI focused service plans. If we see "American Dirt" is still selling a lot [oh, and it is at #23 still! Sadly between 2 antiracist books], we need to redo those, "Read instead of American Dirt" displays I write about here.

Warning, now I am going to yell at you....

The time for blaming the public for buying racist books and then saying there is nothing you can do about it since they are bestsellers and you are supposed to give them the books they want is over. It's been over for awhile, you all just didn't want to hear it.

Okay, no more yelling. But seriously. Be aware of what is selling. Yes, you have to buy a copy of books like "American Dirt," but again, READ THIS POST, you can promote not reading it too. You can suggest books people may prefer and offer better choices. 

Libraries are not neutral. we have to help our communities learn to be antiracist. We have to educate them on microaggressions. We are the "People's University." Stop making excuses and start doing your job. And it starts with awareness. Get out there and educate others through your RA Service.