Selection Not Censorship
Giving librarians the right reasons to label Christian fiction
By Francine Fialkoff, Editor -- Library Journal, 5/15/2004
Their questions are rather prosaic given the stir the books and the film have generated in the press: How do we define Christian fiction and where do we shelve it—separately or intermixed with general fiction? Nevertheless, these questions reflect the librarian's role. To paraphrase Asheim: Censors look for reasons to reject a book. Selectors look for reasons to include it. With patron demand being the primary motivator for purchase, that mantra may be more true now than when Asheim wrote his article. Today's librarians are more attuned than their earlier counterparts to meeting users' wants and needs. For many, that means both buying Christian fiction and either separating it out or labeling it as such on the general fiction shelves.
The discussion on Fiction_L reflects the acceptance of Christian fiction that has occurred since the mid-1990s, when LJ introduced its Christian Fiction column. Though several librarians express qualms about singling out one religion over another, no one brings up separation of church and state or the strictures against labeling by the American Library Association. In deciding whether to label or to break out Christian fiction into a separate section, the arguments are purely practical. The decision should be based on knowledge of local tastes, space issues, browsability, and ease of use of the collection.
Those who oppose breaking out Christian fiction make some good points about relying instead on readers' advisory, bookmarks, reading lists, displays, and so on. The ever-thoughtful Barry Trott, head of adult services in Williamsburg, VA, notes that "support[ing] a community of readers…is best achieved [through] one-on-one conversation…. The use of appeal factors in defining what a reader is looking for in a book seems often to transcend genres." When it's not possible to have a conversation, however, Trott believes that an interfiled and labeled collection "offers at least the possibility that someone will come across a broader range of choices than browsing only a single genre collection."
Like Trott, LJ's Christian Fiction columnist, Tamara Butler, believes in transcending genres. In her April 1 column she calls Philip Gulley's "Harmony" series "reminiscent of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon Days," compares Ron and Janet Benrey's mystery Humble Pie to Dorothy Gilman's "Mrs. Pollifax" series, and says that readers of "Annie Proulx's The Shipping News will want to savor [Cindy] Martinsen's… lyrical sea imagery." Butler intends to expand beyond the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association) market, which traditionally defines Christian fiction, to include fiction based on other types of Christianity.
Butler, who reviewed general fiction for LJ before taking on the column, began to bone up on the genre when patrons at the rural library where she then worked began asking her for it. Her goal, she says, is to "get more librarians to see it in a rounded light and not just dismiss it as 'too religious' or of lesser literary quality."
Just as reviewers of general fiction denote when a book has graphic violence or explicit sex, Butler plans to indicate when a book addresses a controversial topic, has a political agenda, or has a bent toward a particular type of Christianity. Her reviews will help librarians guide patrons who want "gentle reads," one kind of Christian fiction that eschews sex, profanity, and violence. (In contrast, Glorious Awakening, the penultimate book in the "Left Behind" series, describes in gruesome detail the fate of unbelievers.) Butler acknowledges there is a certain amount of "tightrope walking" when reviewing Christian fiction, but, as Asheim counseled, she's trying to give librarians reasons to "select" not "censor"—with discerning reviews.
