Library collections are moving, living things. They are built over the years by the librarians who steward them and are continuously changing—both as physical and educational objects. We each work, research, study or lead map and geography collections that vary in size, scope, focus, and budget. Each of our collections also has an origin narrative—How and when did it start? Who were the key players? Why a collection of cartographic objects in this place at this time?
I will admit that I did not pay too much attention to the origin narratives of past collections within which I worked. Occasionally there was a need to share the narrative either for some press event or for donors. Otherwise, I went about my work in the present without much thought of the past. When I moved to the American Geographical Society Library (AGSL), I had to start thinking about origin narratives, since it is a narrative that we tell every single day. People are curious how such a collection happens to live in Milwaukee Wisconsin, and there is a narrative to share, and so, we do. A decade ago, the narrative we shared was inherited from the past. It told of the men who ran the society, the historical events the Society and its collections played a role in, and the significant exploration expeditions the Society sponsored. Like many narratives from a certain period of history, it did not include the voices of repressed histories, images, memories, people, and cultures. And so, I decided to change the narrative of the AGSL, not only about the history of the collection but of the items in our collections as well. Essentially, we take a post-colonial approach to our work. This shift marked a critical turning point where we began to discuss the issues and came to understand that we can approach collections work through the lens of recognizing overlooked voices, spaces, and historical wrongs. We implemented changes such as stopping the use of the word “discovered” when discussing the Age of Exploration and instead using “explored,” we raise up the silenced voices and highlight the empty spaces on the map, and we encourage our visitors to step back from their awe in viewing historical objects and to think critically about the narratives locked within those objects.
By now, you might be wondering what collection origin narratives have to do with building, maintaining, and preserving the items themselves. Collection narratives can offer a framework within which we can perform reparative collection work. Within those narratives live clues about the gaps, not only in the spatial representation of materials collected, but also of other voices represented but often overlooked. Taking stock of what has been left out can provide a strong direction for building a more inclusive collection that represents user communities, research and instruction needs. It can provide a framework for creating a priority list for preservation purposes and can serve as a starting place for collaborative collection development initiatives – both print and digital.
I have written before about the awkward place map libraries find themselves in within libraries regarding approaches to information literacy. That awkwardness extends to collection development and management as well. We are often advocating for why our collections take up so much space, fighting against the perception that everything has been mapped and is available via the internet, and the perception that paper maps lack value in the digital world. My perspective on collections comes not only from this awkward space while holding a leadership position for a collection built by colonizers, but also from needing to find balance in a collection that serves as a research library, an archive, and a museum. Maybe you have felt the library vs. archive vs. museum tension as well but have struggled to put a name to it – I know that I struggled to put a name to this tension I was feeling in my early years at the AGSL. It was not until I started digging into other literature that I came to understand the tension better. In seeking to balance the complementary yet competing needs the AGSL presents, I draw from the literature in each of these areas. The literature on critical archival studies, decolonizing museums, and post-colonial heritage. The work of Michelle Caswell in the critical archives realm has deeply informed how I think about and evaluate the acquisition of materials both past and present and how we approach rethinking the narratives of our collections. The literature on the decolonization of museums is intensely interesting and broad, forcing me to find an area to focus my reading. Thus, I have focused most of my reading in that realm on the development of museum collections with a particular interest in repatriation of collections. If you find these ideas compelling and want to dig further, those are the areas I recommend, we have much to learn from our colleagues in archives and museums.
Allow me a paragraph or two to present another idea I have been struggling with in the collection realm lately—it is the perception that a collection that is not growing is “stagnant” and “dying” or that a thriving collection needs to keep growing. I was in conversation with some academic, non-librarian colleagues (who are heavy library users) recently when this idea came up and I was instantly put off by this sentiment. I pushed back in the moment and had to again a month or two later when it perpetuated in writing. I will be up front and say that I do not buy into this perception, which is probably not a surprise. But it caused me to take a step back and think about where this perception comes from and what work can be better highlighted to show that this is not the reality. I have so many question - am I naïve in thinking that this perception is not backed up by reality? Does it harken back to the editorial Nathan and I authored in 2018 defending map libraries? Is that where this perception comes from? Is there only one way for a collection to grow? Did I not highlight above ways in which collections can grow on an intellectual level regardless of the physical size of the collection? How do you all feel about this perception? While as I am writing, these seem like rhetorical questions, I do not intend for them to be rhetorical. So I present these questions and the other ideas about building collections to you in hopes that they spur some thought or aha moments that compel you to create space to think about these as serious issues facing our discipline and write about and publish your thoughts, projects, etc. I also welcome direct conversations if you so desire.
How do these thoughts pertain to the articles you will read in these issues? These two issues are made up of four longer format articles each dealing with some aspect of map collecting—there is a history of the collection at the Library of Congress, an article making the case as to why modern road maps are worthy of adding to our collections, the collecting and study of pre-modern East Asian maps, and a history of the longest running lecture series on the history of cartography where many of the lectures held over the years involved the collecting of maps. All these articles are written from a historical perspective, by prominent historians of cartography who oversee or work within collections in some capacity. There is tremendous value in documenting the histories within each of these articles, highlighting the who, what, where and when that bring collections to life. I challenge you, as you are reading these articles, to do so with a critical lens and ask some questions about what is presented—who were/are these collections built for? Who are the prominent individuals highlighted in the narratives, who help/helped build special collections and at what cost? What is the potential for raising up unheard voices?
While editing the Journal of Map and Geography Libraries for the last five years has afforded us the space to present you with our ideas and visions for the profession, I think I can speak for us both when I say we are looking forward to having the time to participate in these conversations on a different level in the coming years and you can be sure there will be more from me on the collections front.
American Geographical Society Library, University of [email protected] © 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group,https://doi.org/10.1080/15420353.2022.2153506