Building a Diverse and Inclusive Collection Using GOBI Spotlight Lists

A commitment to diversity and inclusion is a commitment to continual conscious efforts and long-term growth. Librarians strive to implement collection development practices that focus on diverse content and support a more inclusive community, rich with input and knowledge from a wide range of perspectives. In turn, GOBI Library Solutions works to provide collection development resources and support for librarians focused on building those diverse collections that meet the needs of students and researchers now and in the future.

Included among these efforts is the curation of the DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Spotlight Lists, which can be found in the Subject-Focused Lists section of GOBI. GOBI Spotlight Lists are specially curated selection lists that feature recommended e-books and print books from highly experienced librarians. These monthly lists are carefully put together to save librarians time during the collection development process while helping them acquire the most timely and relevant high-quality titles.

• The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Spotlight Lists are curated by EBSCO librarians and represent a selection of best-selling, well-reviewed, and topical works on a variety of issues related to diversity and social justice.
• The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Monthly Spotlight Lists include titles selected by GOBI Senior Collection Development Managers and feature quality materials that address the topics of diversity, equity, and inclusion and are suitable for a wide range of libraries.

To provide a peek behind the curtain at the work that goes into creating the beloved Spotlight Lists, hear from Gemma Doyle (Collection Development Manager, EBSCO Books) and Jenny Hudson (Senior Collection Development Manager and Profiling Team Lead, Western U.S., GOBI.) In addition to their own experiences as librarians themselves, Doyle and Hudson have substantive experience working with librarians, learning the ins and outs of their processes, and using that knowledge to build resources to support their collection development workflows.  Read more about how and why these DEI Spotlight Lists were created.

Why was the decision made to create DEI-specific Spotlight Lists and collections?

GD: We know librarians are seeking DEI content. Since making it easy for librarians to find what they need has always been the purpose of Spotlight Lists, we’ve created as many as we know we have high-quality content for. Of course, those numbers and subjects will keep expanding as publishers have really stepped up their DEI content and allowed us to continue to create even more granular Spotlight Lists. The more specified Lists mean that we don’t just have an Indigenous Studies Spotlight List – we have regional Indigenous Studies Lists for Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the United States, etc., so that librarians can find exactly what they’re looking for, and don’t have to spend a lot of time digging through lists full of other things to find it. 

JH: Myself and our other Profiling Team Leads Amy Lana and Laura Zusman are always looking for ways we can leverage our proprietary GOBI Library Solutions profiling data to help support libraries and their collection development needs.

We noticed that many libraries were asking for DEI resources, and they wanted an easy way to find DEI materials in GOBI. We’ve worked on special backfill projects and provided numerous collection analysis reviews, but many libraries don’t want to embark on something big like that. They simply want to know about new titles that may be of interest. While many libraries have approval plans or use GOBI for searching, there wasn’t a way to specifically pinpoint new DEI titles.  We needed something easy and available to all. The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Monthly Spotlight List allows for all GOBI users to review and purchase what works for them at their leisure. It’s also a great tool for end-of-year spending or an influx of special funds.

How did you determine the topics for the DEI Spotlight Lists?

GD: We look at trending topics in the academic space and the quality frontlist content we have from academic publishers.  We don’t want to create Spotlight Lists with subpar content, so this assessment is really key. 

JH: We wanted something that embraced a broad definition of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, so we chose to use all the relevant tags our GOBI Library Solutions profilers assign to titles (e.g., Chicano or Hispanic Studies, LGBTQ Studies, Black Studies, Ethnic Studies).  Beyond those tags, though, we look for titles about these topics and strive to include a representation of global voices and marginalized histories.  We focus on the diverse people and cultures around the world.

How do you choose which titles to include in the Spotlight Lists?

GD: We look at current sales data, award winners and titles that have a lot of buzz in the academic community.  We also leverage our knowledge of publishers and imprints to choose titles from publishers that are strong in certain areas. 

JH: While we include university press titles and well-known trade presses, we also look outside of the traditional academic lens to identify graphic novels, personal narratives, books of poetry, photography books, cookbooks, or even handicraft titles that may be of interest.  We are sure to include small presses that may otherwise be overlooked but publish quality material in this area. Because the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Monthly Spotlight List is intended to be an approachable list, we strive for 250 titles, give or take each month. Some months are weightier and others less so. We aren’t set on a specific number, but it does help us keep focused. We tend to weed out anything that is overly academic or too focused on a tangential narrow topic.

How do Spotlight Lists make it easier for libraries to grow their collections?

GD: Spotlight Lists let librarians browse titles in subject areas without having to search for them across all of the GOBI titles.  GOBI’s title holdings are huge, and it can be intimidating and time-consuming for librarians to dig through search results to find titles that match the subject they want.  Because we leverage our librarianship experience to compile these lists, librarians can trust that the content highlighted in Spotlight Lists is well-vetted, popular, and high quality.

JH: A library can subscribe to the DEI Monthly Spotlight list. This means they can receive a curated list of DEI titles delivered to their Inbox every month. The email contains a link that allows them to easily view the list in GOBI. From here, they can see if they already own the title. They can also see if has won an award, was a bestseller, or, for some, they can preview the entire e-book. If a library doesn’t want to subscribe, they can still access these lists monthly on GOBI or see a compiled annual list at any point.

GOBI users can view the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Spotlight Lists and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Monthly Spotlight Lists in the Subject-Focused Lists section of Spotlight Lists in GOBI. 

Want to learn about new Spotlight Lists as they’re released? Sign up for the GOBI newsletter to get monthly updates.