Creating a Popular Romance Collection in an Academic Library

CREATING A POPULAR

ROMANCE COLLECTION

IN AN ACADEMIC

LIBRARY

Sarah E. Sheehan, MLS, M.Ed, AHIP

Liaison Librarian, College of Health & Human Services

George Mason University

[email protected]

@sarah4libraries

mailto:[email protected]

“Who will we be studying

in 100 years?”

-

question from the audience at the opening keynote panel presentation at the 2013 Popular

Romance Author Symposium (Princeton University, October 24th, 2013

Source: http://www.princeton.edu/prcw/ PCACreatingPopularRomanceCollection201504

“Well unless you already

have it in your own

personal library, you

won’t be able to.”

- My response

PCACreatingPopularRomanceCollection201504

Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Atlanta_Public_Library.JPG


MISSION OF THE

ACADEMIC LIBRARY

Image Source: http://libraries.cua.edu/res/images/mullen1.jpg



This is like having all the

literacy criticism on Eugene

O’Neill’s The Ice Man Cometh but not actually owning

The Ice Man Cometh

- Sheehan, S. E. (in press). Creating a Popular Romance Collection in an

- Academic Library. Journal of Popular Romance Studies.


POPULAR ROMANCE

NOVELS IN

ACADEMIC LIBRARIES




Source: http://www.tommiemedia.com/wp-content/uploads/leisuresign.jpg


Why Mason?


WHY MASON?

Support from Literature Subject

Liaison and Head, Collection

Development

Emphasis on print monographs

Dr. Jessica Matthews

Popular Romance Project

hosted at the Roy Rosenszweig

Center for History & New

Media

Already owned a few titles


NOT OPERATING

IN A VACUUM

Image: https://blog.mcdaniel.edu/intech/files/2011/02/library_redsquare_med.jpg


HOW WE DID IT

Proposal to Head, Collection Development &

Preservation

• Rational

• What we would collect

• Criteria used to select materials

• Exclusions


Source: http://www.community-christian.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Celebration.jpeg


Criteria and Collecting


INITIAL CRITERIA

Novels published by American and International

romance novel authors from the 20th and 21st century.

Select novels from all the RWA Nora Roberts

Lifetime Achievement Award winners.

Collect influential novels listed on the All About

Romance and The Romance Reader Top 100 lists


INITIAL CRITERIA

A limited number of category novels. Category

novels are the short novels that are written for a

specific book line.

Hardback or trade paper formats are preferred, but

novels that are only available in mass market

paperback may also be added to the collection.


CRITERIA ADDITIONS

Additional titles/authors from RITAs, Library Journal

Best Romances, LAMBDA Awards, Curve Rainbow

Awards

Syllabi

Widen Review Sources:

• Love in the Margins

• Sistah’s Sizzlin’ Reads

• Romance Novels in Color

• Smexy Books


HOW WE DID IT

Images: http://blog.press.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gift-books2.jpg; http://www2.alibris-static.com/images/logos/alibris-logo-200.gif

Alibris: out of print book

wholesaler

Gifts

Serendipity purchases


http://blog.press.princeton.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gift-books2.jpg






Mary Balogh – some

Suzanne Brockmann - some

Sandra Brown – some

Loretta Chase – some

Jennifer Crusie – all

Tessa Dare – some

Jude Deveraux – some

Linda Howard - some

Carla Kelly – some

Jayne Ann Krentz, Amanda Quick, Jayne Castle – some

Eloisa James – some

Beverly Jenkins - some

Elizabeth Lowell – some

Debbie Macomber – some

AUTHORS

Linda Lael Miller – some

Susan Elizabeth Phillips – all

Mary Jo Putney – some

Julia Quinn – some

Radclyffe – some

Rosemary Rogers – all

Nilini Singh – some

Beatrice Small - some

Mary Stewart – all

Anne Stuart – some

J.R. Ward – some

Jennifer Weiner – some

Phyllis A. Whitney – all

Susan Wiggs – some

Kathleen Woodwiss - all


Next Steps


NEXT STEPS

Closer ties working with McDaniel College

Create Romance InfoGuide

Create formal collection development policy and fund code

Discuss with Special Collections Librarian outreach for

pursuing primary source material from popular romance

authors

Collection Assessment



REFERENCES “About.” Roy Rosenszweig Center for History and New Media. n.d. Web. 30 April 2014 http://chnm.gmu.edu/about/.

Alsop, Justine. “Bridget Jones Meets Mr. Darcy: Challenges of a Contemporary Fiction.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 33.5 (2007) 581-585. Web. 2 April 2014.

Baltimore County Public Library Blue Ribbon Committee. Give’em What They Want!: Managing the Public’s Library. Chicago: American Library Association, 1992. Print.

Berlatsky, Noah. “I’m a Guy Who Loves Romance Novels – and Jennifer Weiner is Right About Reviews.” Salon., 21 April 2014. Web. 21 April 2014.

<http://www.salon.com/2014/04/21/im_a_guy_who_loves_romance_novels_and_jennifer_weiner_is_right_about_reviews/>

Clark, Dennis. “Lending Kindle E-book Readers: First Results from the Texas A&M University Project.” Collection Building. 28:4 (2009): 146-49. Print.

Brownson, Charles W. “Contemporary Literature.” English and American Literature: Sources and Strategies for Collection Development. Eds. William McPheron, Stephen Lehmann, Craig Likness, and

Marcia Pankake. Chicago, IL: American Library Association, 1987. 102-26. Print.

Burcher, Charlotte, Neil Holland, Andrew Smith, Barry Trott, and Jessica Zellers. “The Alert Collector: Core Collections in Genre Studies: Fantasy Fiction 101.” Reference & User Services

Quarterly 48.3 (2009): 226-231. Web. 2 April 2014.

Crutcher, Wendy. “Little Miss Crabby Pants Fires The Canon.” The Misadventures of Super Librarian. Web. 22 April 2014. <http://wendythesuperlibrarian.blogspot.com/2014/04/little-miss-

crabby-pants-fires-canon.html >

Dewan, Pauline. “Why Your Academic Library Needs a Popular Researching Collection Now More Than Ever.” College & Undergraduate Libraries 17 (2010): 44-64. Print.

Flesch, Juliet. “Not Just Housewives and Old Maids.” Collection Building 16.3 (1997): 119-124. Web. 18 April 2014.

Funderburk, Amy. Romance Collections in North Carolina Public Libraries: Are All Genres Treated Equally? MA Paper. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2004. Web. 18 April 2004.

<http://ils.unc.edu/MSpapers/2934.pdf >

George Mason University, Banner Registration System. George Mason Univesity. n.d. Web. 18 April 2014. <https://patriotweb.gmu.edu/pls/prod/bwskfcls.P_GetCrse_Advanced.> PCACreatingPopularRomanceCollection201504

http://chnm.gmu.edu/about/



http://www.salon.com/2014/04/21/im_a_guy_who_loves_romance_novels_and_jennifer_weiner_is_right_about_reviews/

http://wendythesuperlibrarian.blogspot.com/2014/04/little-miss-crabby-pants-fires-canon.html











http://ils.unc.edu/MSpapers/2934.pdf

https://patriotweb.gmu.edu/pls/prod/bwskfcls.P_GetCrse_Advanced

REFERENCES Goldman, Crystal. “Love in the Stacks: Popular Romance Collection Development in Academic Libraries.” Journal of Popular Romance Studies.3:1 (2012).Web. 24 April 2014. <http://jprstudies.org/wp-

content/uploads/2012/10/JPRS3.1_Goldman_LoveStacks.pdf>

“Laura London’s The Windflower to Be Reissued in 2014.” RT Book Reviews. 12 November 2013. Web. 18 April 2014. <http://www.rtbookreviews.com/rt-daily-blog/laura-londons-windflower-be-reissued-2014-0>

Matthews, Jessica. “Why Women Read Romance Syllabus.” n.d. Web. 18 April 2014 http://whywomenreadromance.com/engh-202-syllabus/

Ramage, Lexie. “Students Read Up on Romance In Unique English Course.” Fourth Estate., 21 March 2011. Web. 8 April 2014 <http://www.connect2mason.com/content/students-read-romance-unique-english-course>

Ramsdell, Kristin. “Romance Reviews: Second Time Around.” Library Journal. 15 February 2014. Web. 8 April, 2014. <http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2014/02/books/genre-fiction/romance/romance-reviews-february-15-2014/>

Romance Writers of America. “Industry Statistics.” n.d. Web. 24 April 2014. <http://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=580>

Romance Writers of America. “NWA Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Awards.” n.d. Web. 24 April 2014. <http://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=543>

Selinger, Eric. “The Berlatsky Affair, Part 2.” Teach Me Tonight: Musings on Romance Fiction From an Academic Perspective. 27 April 2014. Web. 27 April 2014. <http://teachmetonight.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-berlatsky-affair-part-2.html>

Sheehan, Sarah E. Romance Authors: A Research Guide. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited, 2010. Print.

Smith, Rochelle and Nancy J. Young. “Perspective On: Giving Pleasure Its Due: Collection Promotion and Readers’ Advisory in Academic Libraries.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 34.6 (2008): 520-526. Web. 2 April 2014.

“Teaching Popular Romance.” Teach Me Tonight: Musings on Romance Fiction From an Academic Perspective. n. d. Web. 22 April 2014. <http://teachmetonight.blogspot.com/p/teaching-popular-romance.html>

“Top 100 Romances Poll November 2013.” All About Romance. Last visited 30 April 2014. http://www.likesbooks.com/top1002013results.html

Wyatt, Neal; Georgine Olson; Kristin Ramsdell; Joyce Saricks, and Lynne Welch. “The Alert Collector: Core Collections in Genre Studies: Romance Fiction 101. Reference & User Services Quarterly 47.2 (2008): 120-126. Web. 2 April 2014.


http://www.rtbookreviews.com/rt-daily-blog/laura-londons-windflower-be-












http://whywomenreadromance.com/engh-202-syllabus/






http://www.connect2mason.com/content/students-read-romance-unique-english-course











http://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=580

http://www.likesbooks.com/top1002013results.html

http://www.likesbooks.com/top1002013results.html

Documents

Creating a Popular Romance Collection in an Academic Library