Vanessa Irvin Morris - The Readers Advisory Guide to Street Literature

The Readers Advisory Guide to Street Literature

ALA READERS ADVISORY SERIES

The Readers Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction, second edition

The Readers Advisory Guide to Nonfiction

The Readers Advisory Guide to Graphic Novels

The Readers Advisory Guide to Horror, second edition

The Readers Advisory Guide to Mystery, second edition

The Readers Advisory Guide to Street Literature

The Romance Readers Advisory: The Librarians Guide to Love in the Stacks

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Readers Advisory: The Librarians Guide to Cyborgs, Aliens, and Sorcerers

The Short Story Readers Advisory: A Guide to the Best

Serving Boys through Readers Advisory

Serving Teens through Readers Advisory

Research-Based Readers Advisory

The Readers Advisory Handbook

The Readers Advisory Guide to Street Literature

Vanessa Irvin Morris

FOREWORD BY

Teri Woods

Joyce Saricks and Neal Wyatt

SERIES EDITORS

American Library Association

Chicago 2012

Vanessa Irvin Morris is an assistant professor at the College of Information Science and Technology at Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (the iSchool at Drexel). She has spent twenty years serving in academic, special, school media, and public libraries. Her research interests include the sociocultural anthropology of small, urban, and rural libraries, literacy practices of public service librarians, and literacy practices enacted and learned in Second Life. Morris founded and facilitated a teen book club focusing on street lit, working with inner-city teens at a Philadelphia library from 2005 to 2008. She is currently pursuing her EdD and is conducting her dissertation research on Street Literature as Collaborative Inquiry for Urban Public Service Librarians with the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.

2012 by the American Library Association. Any claim of copyright is subject to applicable limitations and exceptions, such as rights of fair use and library copying pursuant to Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act. No copyright is claimed in content that is in the public domain, such as works of the U.S. government.

While extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of the information in this book, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

ISBNs: 978-0-8389-1110-5 (paper); 978-0-8389-9362-0 (PDF); 978-0-8389-9363-7 (ePUB); 978-0-8389-9364-4 (Mobipocket); 978-0-8389-9365-1 (Kindle). For more information on digital formats, visit the ALA Store at alastore.ala.org and select eEditions.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Morris, Vanessa Irvin.

The readers advisory guide to street literature / Vanessa Irvin Morris; foreword by Teri Woods.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8389-1110-5 (alk. paper)

1. Urban fiction, AmericanBibliography. 2. Urban fiction, AmericanHistory and criticism. 3. Street lifeFictionBibliography. 4. Young adult fiction, American Bibliography. 5. Readers advisory servicesUnited States. 6. Fiction in libraries.

I. Title.

Z1231.U73M67 2012

[PS374.U73]

016.813'609358209732dc23 2011029685

Cover image Hannamariah/Shutterstock, Inc.

ALA Editions purchases fund advocacy, awareness, and accreditation programs for library professionals worldwide.

To my ancestors and to my parents,
Roger and Barbara Irvin,
for consistently and beautifully modeling to me
the art of reading, writing, and honest hard work.

To Bernard Vavrek, Ph.D.,
and Helen Miller, MLS,
for believing in me early on and
starting me on my way.

CONTENTS

Street Lit and Its Appeal to Readers

A Historical Timeline of Street Lit

The Streets as a Literary Motif

Themes and Subgenres

Expanding on the Patrons Expertise

Teen-Friendly Street Lit

Street-Lit Collection Development

Who and What Are We Reading in the Library?

Pushin Books and Programs

EPILOGUE

BEEF: Bringin Extreme Explanations to the Forefront of Street Lit

Street-Literature Publishers

Works Cited

SERIES INTRODUCTION

Joyce Saricks and Neal Wyatt
SERIES EDITORS

In a library world in which finding answers to readers advisory questions is often considered among our most daunting service challenges, library staff need guides that are supportive, accessible, and immediately useful. The titles in this series are designed to be just that. They help advisors become familiar with fiction genres and nonfiction subjects, especially those they dont personally read. They provide ready-made lists of need to know elements such as key authors and read-alikes, as well as tips on how to keep up with trends and important new authors and titles.

Written by librarians with years of RA experience who are also enthusiasts of the genre or subject, the titles in this series of practical guides emphasize an appreciation of the topic, focusing on the elements and features fans enjoy, so advisors unfamiliar with the topics can readily appreciate why they are so popular.

Because this series values the fundamental concepts of readers advisory work and its potential to serve readers, viewers, and listeners in whatever future-space libraries inhabit, the focus of each book is on appeal and how appeal crosses genre, subject, and format, especially to include audio and video as well as graphic novels. Thus, each guide emphasizes the importance of whole collection readers advisory and explores ways to make suggestions that include novels, nonfiction, and multimedia, as well as how to incorporate whole collection elements into displays and booklists.

Each guide includes sections designed to help librarians in their RA duties, be that daily work or occasional interactions. Topics covered in each volume include:

• The appeal of the genre or subject and information on subgenres and types so that librarians might understand the breadth and scope of the topic and how it relates to other genres and subjects. A brief history is also included to give advisors context and highlight beloved classic titles.
• Descriptions of key authors and titles with explanations of why theyre important: why advisors should be familiar with them and why they should be kept in our collections. Lists of read-alikes accompany these core author and title lists, allowing advisors to move from identifying a key author to helping patrons find new authors to enjoy.
• Information on how to conduct the RA conversation so that advisors can learn the tools and skills needed to develop deeper connections between their collections and their communities of readers, listeners, and viewers.
• A crash course in the genre or subject designed to get staff up to speed. Turn to this section to get a quick overview of the genre or subject as well as a list of key authors and read-alikes.
• Resources and techniques for keeping up to date and understanding new developments in the genre or subject are also provided. This section will not only aid staff already familiar with the genre or subject, but will also help those not familiar learn how to become so.
• Tips for marketing collections and lists of resources and awards round out the tools staff need to be successful working with their community.

As readers who just happen to be readers advisors, we hope that the guides in this series lead to longer to-be-read, -watched, and -listened-to piles. Our goal is that the series helps those new to RA feel supported and less at sea, and introduces new ideas or new ways of looking at foundational concepts, to advisors who have been at this a while. Most of all, we hope that this series helps advisors feel excited and eager to help patrons find their next great title. So dig in, explore, learn, and enjoy the almost alchemical process of connecting title and reader.