The Necessity of Embracing Collection Gaps: Moving Towards Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Collecting

Abstract

Many special collections and rare book departments within American academic libraries are changing their collection development policies to reflect the need and call for diverse collections. However, many of these altered policies do not adequately address what a diverse collection is, and how to achieve this. Moreover, while institutions look to diversify their collections, they are also filling “collection gaps,” or, acquiring items in areas of weakness, to better strengthen the overall research and instruction value of the entire collection. To better understand these policy changes, we can look at a variety of academic institutions that differ in size, geographic location, and collection priorities. We must begin by investigating what constitutes a diverse collection in these locations, and how many genuine efforts towards diverse collection acquisitions have failed, by looking solely to acquire items of identity-based trauma.