Native American literature for young people: a survey of collection development methods in public libraries

in a majority of cases. 2. Native American literature is not emphasized in children/young

adult collections. 3. Budget allocations for acquiring these specialized materials are

either low or nonexistent. 4. Regarding selection sources, librarians indicated that most titles

were either of average or below average use in assisting them

in choosing American Indian literature to purchase. Titles

identified as the most helpful were standard bibliographies and

traditional review media. 5. Librarians were not familiar with specialized bibliographies and

Native American periodicals recommended in the professional

literature as valuable selection aids. 6. The depressed ratings regarding selection sources (general and

specialized) may be linked to the low levels of collection

development activity associated with the acquisition of Native

American materials. 7. The criteria considered most important to librarians in the

selection process were readability, authenticity, objectivity,

accuracy, recency, purpose, and author's reputation. 8. Librarians seem to employ selection criteria that are relevant to

all types of materials and to a lesser extent on evaluative standards

associated with multicultural literature. Yet the data do not

demonstrate a rigorous employment of selection criteria

pertaining specifically to American Indian resources. 9. Recommendations by those knowledgeable of the Indian reality

were regarded to be more important criteria than those related

to Native American authorship. 10. Librarians perceived Native American literature for young people

to be available at levels of accessibility barely above average.

The data seem to demonstrate a rather anemic portrait of collection development activities dedicated to procuring Native American literature for young people in the public library context. These findings are particularly disturbing because these institutions are located in areas with large Native American communities. Admittedly, these results are preliminary, but the question must be asked, Is this snapshot of collection development practices a current trend nationwide? Further investigation is warranted to either refute or support these findings.

A follow-up study needs to be conducted on the collection development practices of the public libraries in Oklahoma and Alaska. This investigation also needs to be extended to other community libraries in states where large Native American populations reside. Will the collection of additional data furnish an overall picture that depicts a greater vitality in the procurement of these specialized materials? Or, will this preliminary sketch be confirmed?

Studies investigating acquisition patterns in community libraries located on reservations need to be implemented. Do collection development strategies differ in these localities? Despite funding shortages, are these techniques more effective in locating appropriate materials? If so, could this paradigm then be transferred to public libraries outside the reservation context?