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Implementing Antiracism in 
Technical Services
Leslie A. Engelson, Murray State University
Brinna Michael, Emory University
Caitlin Soma, Emory University

ABSTR AC T It is a sad reality that racist bias is inherent in cataloging 
standards and collection development practices. Whether racism 
in cataloging and collection development practices is intentional or 
not, Technical Service librarians can be intentional about combat-
ting it. This article presents three antiracist projects implemented to 
address racism in collection development and classification. Leslie 
Engelson discusses the results of an effort initiated by the music 
faculty to determine the representation of BIPOC in the music score 
collection at Waterfield Library. Brinna Michael demonstrates how 
racist language is represented in the Library of Congress Classifica-
tion schedule and her efforts at Pitts Theology Library to update call 
numbers. Finally, Caitlin Soma details a diversity audit of the books 
assigned on course reserve at Candler School of Theology to iden-
tify potential collection gaps and to encourage faculty to develop 
curricula that include more diverse voices.

ANTIRACISM AND LIBRARIAN NEUTRALITY
Conversations related to racism/antiracism can be divisive. To those 
who think that it is not a topic for theological or religious studies 
librarians to discuss, I would say that, other than the home and reli-
gious institutions, I can’t think of a better place to both model and 
teach about the inherent value, dignity, and equality of all persons 
than in our libraries. It is our hope that what we discuss here is infor-
mative and helpful; our intention is not to be divisive.

It is important also to acknowledge that our whiteness affords us 
opportunity to address this issue in a public forum and compels us 
to approach this topic with humility and open-mindedness.

Neutrality. It’s an ideal to which librarians aspire. In fact, it’s 
explicitly stated in our Code of Ethics. (Freedom 2012; Cataloging 
2021) We strive to be unbiased in our interactions with our patrons, 



118  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

our collection management decisions, word choices in how we 
describe resources, selection of subject access points, and where 
we decide to place a physical item within the broader collections. 
Yet we know that all those activities and decisions can be wrought 
with bias. Bias which can silence voices and ideas. Even the effort 
to counter that bias towards neutrality is not as straightforward 
as I first thought. Nora Schmidt, in her thesis The Privilege to Select 
(Schmidt 2020), has helpfully distinguished three different types of 
neutrality as practiced by librarians. 

The first category is what she calls passive neutrality and is guided 
or informed by the user’s needs. When functioning at this level of 
neutrality, resources are selected by the user through a DDA program 
or by librarians through approval plans and packages. They are 
described according to library standards, and vocabulary from estab-
lished thesauri are used by catalogers to assign subject access points. 
Likewise, long-established classification schemes are used to orga-
nize those resources. Using these standardized purchasing plans and 
thesauri may be efficient and attractive from a financial perspective, 
but it results in homogenous collections that are described and orga-
nized in culturally insensitive and biased ways.

The second category of neutrality is active neutrality. Librarians 
operating at this level of neutrality are more aware of the impact 
of social systems and actively try to balance access to knowledge 
and ideas. They do this by pressing vendors to include independent 
and Southern-Hemisphere publishers in their DDA and approval 
plan packages in order to have a better representation of the global 
communication taking place in various subject areas. Their advo-
cacy for better representation in classification schemes as well as 
changes in terminology in subject thesauri to better represent all 
people groups is also an act of active neutrality.

The third type of neutrality is what Schmidt calls culturally humble 
neutrality. In this mode of neutrality, the librarian is aware that the 
systemic privileging of some voices over others has resulted in bias in 
the collection, its organization, and its description, and actively works 
toward balancing that bias through intentional selection of resources. 
This also involves catalogers adjusting the classification scheme and 
standardized terminology in thesauri even if this results in more 
time-consuming application and maintenance of these standards.

Dr. Ibram X. Kendi argues that because every policy either 
produces or sustains racial inequality or equity between racial 
groups, there is no such thing as nonracist or race-neutral policy. 



Panel Discussions  119

(Kendi 2019) The three projects detailed below are antiracist in their 
endeavors to produce a measure of equity in our libraries.

REPRESENTATION OF BIPOC IN THE MUSIC COLLECTION OF 
WATERFIELD LIBRARY
Leslie A. Engelson, Murray State University

Background

The impetus for the analysis of the music collection in Waterfield 
Library was a request by the music faculty at Murray State University 
in the fall of 2020 to run a report of the titles that were classified in 
the Library of Congress Classification M class. They indicated their 
desire to analyze the collection for Black, Indigenous, and people of 
color representation.

Whether or not as a result of their analysis, in this past academic 
year, the music faculty recommended the library purchase only seven 
titles that represent racial diversity. These titles focus on Latin Ameri-
can and African American musicians as well as an additional title that 
covers diversity in course development. None of the recommenda-
tions were for either notated or recorded music, and so I thought a 
closer look at the diversity of these collections was warranted.

Collection Analysis Methods

A common method of collection analysis mentioned in the literature 
is comparing the holdings of a library to bibliographies of recom-
mended works, awards lists, and reviews. However, this can be prob-
lematic because of the racism that is built into the publishing process.

Publishers are interested in making money, so they tend to 
publish only those titles they determine are worth the risk and will 
sell. This usually means staying away from unknown authors and 
marginalized perspectives, resulting in many people of color turning 
to independent publishing houses or self-publishing. Scholars who 
create bibliographies of recommended works often unintentionally 
incorporate bias into their selection of titles because of their limited 
awareness of or even marginalization of alternative perspectives. 
Even awards lists that are intended to highlight non-white voices 
primarily include only works published by these large North Ameri-
can or European publishing houses, not independent publishers, let 
alone publishers based in the Southern Hemisphere.



120  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

One antiracist approach to collection analysis involves analyzing 
the creators and publishers represented in the collection for race 
and location. This is a time-consuming process as each creator might 
need to be researched in order to determine their race or ethnicity. 
Research would also need to be done to determine the location and 
scope of unknown publishers. Librarians at Howard-Tilton Memo-
rial Library have tried to address this time-consuming method with 
a workflow they created that uses MarcEdit, OpenRefine, and Python 
to compare directors in their DVD collection with lists of female 
directors. They have made their workflow and script available in 
GitHub. (Howard 2018; Tillay 2019)

Scope

Using the report I ran for the music faculty, I initially looked at the 
subject access points for references to people groups or geographic 
locations in order to determine the race or ethnic representation in 
notated or recorded music. Later analysis will include composers 
and performers.

The total number of titles in the M classes, which includes ML and 
MT, is 18,999. 70% of those are classified in M. This is not surprising 
given the performance focus of the department. Formats included 
for notated and recorded music are printed and electronic books, 
audio-visual, microform, and streaming media. Because records for 
electronic resources often do not include classification codes, only 
eight e-books are included. Additionally, I excluded the 90 streaming 
media titles as these resources are available through a subscription 
database and not a permanent part of the collection. Of the remain-
ing 13,214 titles, 18 did not include subject access points, so those 
were also excluded from the analysis.

Race is a construct and is not represented clearly by LCSH. Deter-
mining which subject access points and subdivisions represented 
non-White people groups was challenging. Whenever I needed to 
decide whether or not to include a subject access point or subdivi-
sion, I looked for those access points that referenced topics that were 
outside the traditional classical music canon which is essentially 
dominated by White, male, and Christian. Some were very easy to 
determine such as Chinese and Jamaican. Others required decisions 
that could arguably have been made differently. For instance, I did 
not include Russia and, after much back-and-forth, excluded Spanish 
when it was associated with Spain. In the interest of broadening the 



Panel Discussions  121

scope, I included ethnoreligious groups such as Jews and hyphen-
ated people groups such as Korean-American.

Some subject access points included the names of composers and 
authors. I included the titles associated with those access points if I 
could determine that the people represented by those names fit the 
criteria. However, I did not include a title with the subject access 
point for Hiawatha when it was associated with a work that is not a 
viable representation of the Iroquois people.

Finally, I included titles that had subject access points for dances, 
instruments, and musical modal systems, such as Dastgāh or Gambuh, 
that are associated with non-White or non-Christian people groups.

The result is that only 297 titles have subject access points or 
subdivisions that associate the musical work with people groups that 
are not represented by the classical music canon. This is only 2.25% 
of the titles in the M class, a disappointingly miniscule representa-
tion of racial diversity (Figure 1). 

FIGURE 1: Percentage of titles that represent diversity in the M class.

However, within that small part of the collection is a rich repre-
sentation of diversity (Figure 2). It is not surprising that both Latin 
America and Asia are the two largest groups as they represent a 
significant number of countries and people groups. African Ameri-
can representation falls in third place; however, once an analysis of 
composers and performers is complete, I’m sure that representation 
will greatly increase.



122  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

FIGURE 2: Breakdown of diversity representation in the M class.

Once I have completed the analysis of the composers and perform-
ers, I plan to present my findings to the Research and Instruction 
Librarians and Dean. We have had conversations previously about 
the diversity of our collections and I think this will be helpful infor-
mation for continuing the conversation. Hopefully, the R&I librarian 
who is responsible for collection development in the M classes will 
be proactive about selecting resources that will bring more repre-
sentation of voices that have been marginalized and ignored for too 
long. I look forward to the positive impact exposure to these people 
groups and cultures through music will have on our students.

Works Cited

Cataloging Ethics Steering Committee. 2021. “Cataloging Code 
of Ethics.” https://sites.google.com/view/cataloging-ethics/
home?authuser=0.

Freedom of Access to Information and Freedom of Expression Advi-
sory Committee. 2012. “IFLA Code of Ethics for Librarians and 
Other Information Workers (full version).” https://www.ifla.org/
publications/node/11092.



Panel Discussions  123

Howard-Tilton-Library. 2018. “Analyze Collection Creators.” 
GitHub repository. https://github.com/Howard-Tilton-Library/
AnalyzeCollectionCreators.

Kendi, Ibram X., 2019. How to Be an Antiracist. New York: Random 
House.

Schmidt, Nora. 2020. The Privilege to Select. Lund University, Facul-
ties of Humanities and Theology, Lund Studies in Arts and 
Cultural Sciences, Lund, Sweden. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/
zenodo.4011295.

Tillay, Rachel and Chapman, CC. 2019. “A New Digital Method for 
Assessing the Diversity of Creator Identities in the Howard-Tilton 
Memorial Library Media Services DVD Collection.” Music Refer-
ence Services Quarterly 22, no.1-2: 57-64. https://doi.org/10.1080/1
0588167.2019.1601421.

ADDRESSING RACIST BIAS IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
CLASSIFICATION
Brinna Michael, Emory University

Introduction

In fall of 2020, within the context of broader discussions of ethics 
in technical services and cataloging at Emory University, Pitts 
Theology Library staff began conceptualizing a project to replace 
certain cutters in LC call numbers. The project was inspired by a 
post originally made by Amber Billey on Cataloging Lab (“Replace 
.N3-5 cutter for Negro” 2021), an online space for catalogers and 
metadata professionals to share ideas and collaborate on issues 
surrounding controlled vocabularies. Historically, the Library of 
Congress Classification (LCC) schedules have codified various racist 
views and perspectives, centering the White experience over BIPOC 
experiences. Billey’s post addressed this by raising the issue of the 
continued use of cutters like .N4 which are derived from the term 

“Negro/s” and the inconsistent way in which these cutters have been 
maintained or changed over the years of LCC reviews and updates. 
Expansions on the original post provided further reading and links to 
similar projects, including Netanel Ganin’s discussion of the origins 
and structural use of the .N4 cutter and his list of prominent classes 
still using the cutter (Ganin 2016), as well as David Heilbrun’s addi-



124  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

tion of the local mappings used at George Mason University to update 
their holdings (“N Cutter Revision”). After consideration, the Pitts 
staff determined that a call number update project had potential as 
a local way to start the process of addressing racism in the catalog 
and on the shelves.

Preparation

Identifying Affected Classes and Proposing Changes
The first step was to compile an initial list of affected classifications 
by combining those already created by Netanel Ganin and David 
Heilbrun. This list was then cross-referenced with the LCC schedules 
to 1) add any relevant classes that had been missed, 2) include notes 
on any officially updated classes by LC, and 3) add any similar classes 
in need of updating, specifically those based on the term “Orientals.” 
We conducted a survey of the LCC schedules, searching specifically 
for uses of the term “Negro/s” and the subcategory “Elements of the 
population,” which generally includes racial and ethnic subdivisions 
within a topic, and represents one of the major structural elements 
within the schedules that reinforces the centering of White male 
perspectives. We recorded each class as it appeared in the schedule 
as well as the hierarchy associated with those classes, mirroring the 
format of Heilbrun’s original list.

FIGURE 1: LCC Class list with LCC Hierarchy and proposed updates

The final list was then assessed on a class-by-class basis and 
proposed updates were created based on the following principles: 

• Is there an existing, official update to this class in the schedule? 
• Is there an existing precedent for this change in another clas-

sification? 



Panel Discussions  125

Where we found existing, official updates, we listed and marked 
them in green under our proposed column (Fig. 1). For classes that 
had not been updated by LC, our proposed update was kept consis-
tent with the precedent of similar classes that had been officially 
updated. This generally meant that for classes addressing Black 
communities and individuals within the US, the new cutter would 
be .A35, using “African American” as the source term, while classes 
addressing Black communities and individuals outside of the US 
received a new cutter of .B5 or the nearest variation. Classes previ-
ously using cutters derived from “Oriental/s” were assigned the 
new cutter .A75 using “Asian” as the source term, although in cases 
where a more specific cutter could be used, such as .J3 for Japanese, 
we added a note recommending the use of the specific cutter over 
a general one.  

This approach is not without faults. In response to a concern 
raised by one of our patrons following the project announcement, 
we reassessed the use of the .N4 cutter specifically regarding Span-
ish- and Portuguese-speaking regions where the term “Negro” is 
the language equivalent of the English term “Black” and does not 
necessarily carry the same history and connotations as the use of 

“Negro” within primarily English-speaking regions. After researching 
and discussing the issue, we decided to continue with our proposed 
updates based on the term “Black” for these regions 1) because this 
accurately reflects the way members of Spanish and Portuguese 
speaking communities refer to themselves in English, and 2) to 
maintain consistency and clarity, since LCC is a primarily English-
based classification. In the same way that the decision to use existing 
changes in the LCC schedules as precedents maintains the struc-
tural situating of these materials within a classification scheme that 
normalizes the White male experience, the decision to maintain an 
English-centric approach somewhat highlights the limitations of LCC. 
In the end, the scope of this project necessitated striking a balance 
between making a meaningful change and retaining consistency 
on the shelves.

Establishing the Project Scope
The second step in preparing to implement this project was to inves-
tigate and establish the scope of such a project at Pitts Theology 
Library. This was accomplished by creating a report using Alma 
Analytics using the compiled list of affected classes (Fig. 2, 3). This 
report was created by pulling the MMS Id, Barcode, Title, Author, 



126  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

Subjects, Permanent Call Number, and Location code fields and 
applying filters to limit the holding library and the relevant call 
numbers.

We chose to include descriptive information, such as author, title, 
and subjects for two reasons: 1) to allow for an additional layer of 
confirmation when relabeling the books, and 2) to have the informa-
tion readily available for future subject assessment work.

FIGURE 3: Alma Analytics report interface with results

FIGURE 2: Alma Analytics report interface with selected columns and filters



Panel Discussions  127

The report showed that five hundred items held onsite at Pitts 
and thirty-seven items stored offsite matched our criteria, the bulk 
of which fell into class BR563.N4, the history of Christianity amongst 
African Americans. It was determined that 537 items constituted 
an extremely feasible project, and after obtaining the approval of 
the Library Director, Bo Adams, and the Head of Cataloging, Armin 
Siedlecki, we began the process of updating the call numbers.

Process and Implementation

The first step towards implementing the project was to develop a 
method of progress tracking. At the time that this project was begun, 
Pitts was operating almost entirely remotely, with an extremely 
limited number of staff on site. The Stacks Specialist, Yasmine Green, 
and I determined the best approach would be to process the mate-
rials in batches. To prepare for processing, we ordered the results 
first by onsite/offsite location and then by call number. We then split 
the items into ten batches of materials that were onsite and a single 
batch of materials that needed to be requested from our offsite stor-
age facility. Each batch was then arranged into separate sheets in a 
single shared spreadsheet in Box (later migrated to OneDrive) where 
we could track the processing progress (Fig. 4).

With a means of tracking our progress remotely arranged, we 
established a two-stage workflow split between updating the catalog 
and updating the physical items. Going one batch at a time, I searched 
in Alma using the MMS Id of the record and added an additional 050 
field with second indicator 4 to the bibliographic record with the full 
call number as it appeared in the “New Call Number” column of the 
project spreadsheet. It was important for us to leave the previous call 

FIGURE 4: Progress tracking spreadsheet



128  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

numbers for several reasons, including the fact that some of these 
records had items attached that were being held at other libraries in 
the Emory system, but more importantly, to avoid erasing the history 
of the call number usage. 

Before updating the holding record, I checked the item list and 
confirmed that the barcode(s) matched those on the project spread-
sheet. If any barcodes were missing, they were marked on the spread-
sheet by highlighting the row. If any barcodes were shown as on loan 
or otherwise not available, a note would be made in the spreadsheet 
with the reason and any additional notes. For items that were on 
loan, we added a fulfillment note to the item record so they could 
be pulled and processed when they were returned. I then selected 
the Pitts holding record, leaving any other holdings as they were, 
and changed the call number to match the spreadsheet and biblio-
graphic record.

When the changes had been made, the cataloger checked the 
“Holdings Updated” column for that item. Once the batch was 
completed and all notes were made, I informed Yasmine that the 
batch was ready for physical relabeling. 

At that point, Yasmine and her student assistants began the 
process of pulling the physical materials. They pulled items based 
on the call numbers listed in the “Former Call Number” column 
of the shared spreadsheet, noting any items that were not on the 
shelves. Items gathered, they checked each barcode against the 
shared spreadsheet and by scanning it into Alma to confirm the 
record matched the physical item. Then they printed and applied 
the new spine label. As each item was relabeled, they checked the 

“Label Updated” column. For items not found on the shelf, they either 
confirmed that the item already had a note saying it was on loan or 
in another location or added an additional note stating the item was 
not pulled and that it was on the shelf. Once a batch was done with 
all physical updating, the items were reshelved and approval was 
given for the next batch to be started.

Outcomes and Lessons

The initial processing period took about two and a half months to 
complete. As of June 23, 2021, 85.3% of all identified items were 
completely updated, including bibliographic records, holdings 
records, and physical item labels. Items still waiting for full process-
ing include forty items still on loan, and fourteen items requiring 



Panel Discussions  129

unique processing due to their format (e.g., microfiche, media). Of all 
items, twenty-five could not be updated as they were either marked 
as lost in Alma (0.6% of the total), marked as inactive in Alma (3%), 
or not physically on the shelf or on loan (1.1%). (Table 1)

TABLE 1. Project Progress as of June 23, 2021

Completed Holdings 
Only

Bib 
Only

On 
Loan

Marked 
Lost

Inactive 
in Alma

Not on 
Shelf TOTAL

Batch 1 42 1 0 3 0 4 0 50

Batch 2 43 0 0 5 1 1 0 50

Batch 3 40 4 0 6 0 0 0 50

Batch 4 42 2 0 1 1 3 1 50

Batch 5 45 1 0 2 0 2 0 50

Batch 6 47 0 1 1 1 0 0 50

Batch 7 41 2 0 3 0 1 3 50

Batch 8 42 2 0 2 0 3 1 50

Batch 9 36 0 0 13 0 1 0 50

Batch 10 44 1 0 4 0 0 1 50

Batch 
LSC 36 0 0 0 0 1 0 37

TOTAL 458 13 1 40 3 16 6 537

Completed: Bib and Holdings records updated, Physical Item relabeled 
Holdings Only: Bib and Holdings records updated, Physical Item not relabeled, not 
currently on Loan 
Bib Only: Bib record updated, Holdings record not updated, Physical Item not rela-
beled, not currently on Loan 
On Loan: Bib and Holdings records updated, Physical Item not relabeled, Currently 
on Loan 
Marked Lost: Marked with the “Lost” status in Alma 
Inactive in Alma: All records deactivated in Alma following deaccessioning 
Not on Shelf: Bib and Holdings records updated, Physical Item not located on 
shelves

It is important to note that we encountered sixteen items that 
were not present in Alma despite appearing in our original Analyt-
ics reports. After some investigation, we found that these items had 
been deaccessioned and their records marked as Inactive in Alma 
yet were still part of the dataset passed to Analytics. We updated our 
report parameters to only show Active records to streamline the 
process as we run regular checks for new items that may have been 
cataloged using the old call numbers. 



130  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

Overall, this project is just one small change that can be made 
with relatively little effort on a local scale. However, it is by no means 
a comprehensive solution to the underlying structural racism that 
permeates the LCC scheme. As previously mentioned, the decision to 
use existing changes in the LCC schedules as precedents maintains 
the fact that we continue to situate these materials within a classifi-
cation scheme that normalizes the White male experience. It is also 
important to note that as the instigator and lead on this project, my 
biases and perspectives as a White person certainly influenced the 
outcomes. We hope to mitigate this effect in future projects as my 
colleagues and I develop a stakeholder group (e.g., students, faculty, 
researchers) to solicit feedback on challenges they face related to 
search and discovery in the catalog with particular focus on equi-
table and ethical description. 

Such future projects may include: identifying and enhancing 
records using the “Indians of North America” heading to include 
more specific and accurate naming of Indigenous communities in 
order to counteract the historical homogenization of these communi-
ties by colonizing forces (Association for Manitoba Archives MAIN-
LCSH Working Group 2017), and identifying and enhancing records 
using “othering” headings to also include “normalized” headings to 
counter the effects of “normalized” headings affecting search and 
discovery (Library of Congress 2013). These will both require coor-
dination with the larger Emory Libraries system and could poten-
tially expand and improve our efforts to enact critical cataloging 
practices in the catalog. Within Pitts itself, we hope to use the call 
number project as a starting point to begin integrating more trans-
parent discussion of the underlying structural biases of the catalog 
as part of regular library instruction sessions and help encourage 
students to critically examine not only the sources they are using in 
their research, but also the process of locating those resources. 

Works Cited

Association for Manitoba Archives MAIN-LCSH Working Group. 
2017. “Changes to the Library of Congress Subject Headings 
Related to Indigenous Peoples: for use in the AMA MAIN Data-
base.” http://hdl.handle.net/1993/31177.

Ganin, Netanel. 2017. “Every Occurrence of N4 in the Library of 
Congress Classification Scheme.” I Never Metadata I Didn’t Like 



Panel Discussions  131

(blog), March 25, 2016. https://inevermetadataididntlike.word-
press.com/2016/03/25/every-occurrence-of-n4-in-the-library-of-
congress-classification-scheme/.

Library of Congress. 2013. “H1330, Biography.” Subject Headings 
Manual. Last updated September 2013, https://www.loc.gov/aba/
publications/FreeSHM/H1330.pdf.

“N Cutter Revision.” 2021. George Mason University, https://docs.
google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eZLHdSSN1wJk6synjvv8LvHDnNEN
lRAQkHST7DCrX3c/edit#gid=1697951160.

“Replace .N3-5 Cutter for Negro,” The Cataloging Lab (blog), last 
updated February 2021, https://cataloginglab.org/kb/replace-
n4-cutter/.

A DIVERSITY AUDIT OF COURSE RESERVES AT CANDLER SCHOOL 
OF THEOLOGY
Caitlin Soma, Emory University

Introduction

In order to create diverse collections, we must first analyze our 
current ones. While there are many methods of collection analysis 
available, applying a detailed method to an entire library collection 
can easily take more time and effort than librarians have to give. 
Therefore, in this project, I conducted a diversity audit on a specific 
subset of our collection that is indicative of how the library collec-
tion relates to the curriculum of the theology school that we support. 

Scope

At Pitts Theology Library, we purchase every textbook assigned 
for a Candler School of Theology course and place it on reserve 
for students to use. Therefore, course reserve books represent the 
core intersection of the Pitts collection and the Candler curriculum. 
Candler courses run on a three-year cycle, so a three-year section 
of course reserves includes all courses regularly taught at Candler. 
For this project, I analyzed books assigned for courses from Fall 2017 
through Spring 2020. I did not include content beyond books, such 
as articles, videos, or other media because we do not purchase all 
of that material for the library’s collection. Additionally, the dataset 



132  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

was already quite large for this type of individual analysis at more 
than 2,000 items.

When analyzing each book, I noted each author’s race and ethnic-
ity according to IPEDS standards (Integrated 1997). I also noted each 
author’s gender, religious affiliation, and region of origin. All of this 
data was based upon publicly available information in which the 
author self-identified in each of these categories. I recognize that the 
IPEDS standards are an imperfect system of classification and that I, 
as a White, cis, woman, bring my own biases to the project, but my 
intent was to use an established system to ensure clarity and consis-
tency in my data collection and reporting. Additionally, using self-
identification on the part of the authors as well as allowing for those 
authors who did not self-identify in a specific category provides an 
accurate dataset for analysis. 

I initially wanted to include the relationship of the author to the 
content but doing that accurately would involve more intensive 
research than was possible in this project, and the results would be 
difficult to portray quantitatively. I also would like to acknowledge 
the importance of including neurodiverse authors and authors with 
physical disabilities in our collections, but that information was not 
available for this project. 

Method

This method is based on the work of Karen Jensen, who initially 
wrote instructions for conducting diversity audits in youth fiction 
collections in Library Journal (Jensen 2018). Although her methods 
are comprehensive, there are significant differences between youth 
fiction and graduate-level theology collections. As a result, I have 
adapted her methodologies to create a process that is more effective 
for analyzing academic works.

The first step was getting the dataset of book titles from our course 
reserve system. Our Course Reserves Specialist, Elizabeth Miller, 
pulled this information from Ares, our course reserves program. She 
put together a spreadsheet that included the title, author, ISBN, and 
publication information. After getting the initial dataset, I removed 
duplicate titles but kept duplicate authors. This is so that the data 
accurately represents whether many different works by one author 
are assigned across the curriculum but is not skewed by books 
assigned for courses that are taught more than once. 



Panel Discussions  133

To find the information about each author, I searched each 
author’s first and last name in Google. If the results from the Google 
search were inconclusive or if an author’s name was particularly 
common, I added keywords that related to their work. I used Google 
to search each author because the information I needed was more 
readily available from Google than from library databases. Informa-
tion about an author’s race, gender, and religious affiliation is not 
readily available from MARC records, so I used alternative sources 
for this project. These sources frequently included university website 
biographies, online curricula vitae, speaker biographies associated 
with special events, and obituaries. I kept a record of where I got the 
information for each author and used multiple sources where neces-
sary to obtain as much information as possible. 

Results

The results of this data can be broken down many different ways, but 
I have found that some of the simplest representations are the most 
telling. Figure 1 contains the initial results for author distribution 
by region. This is the region where each author is from, not where 
the book was published. I broke this data down by continent, with 
the exception of the Middle East. Countries in this dataset that are 
included in the Middle East designation are Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, 
Israel, Palestine, Pakistan, and Turkey. 

FIGURE 1: Breakdown of authors by region of origin.



134  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

Figure 2 contains the results of author gender. Authors for whom 
I was unable to find a gender designation are represented in the “n/a” 
portion of the chart. 

FIGURE 2: Breakdown of authors by gender.

Figure 3 contains the results of author race and ethnicity. The 
“Classical Author” designation refers to those authors whose race is 
disputed or for whom modern racial identifiers would be inaccurate. 
Examples of these authors include Augustine, Irenaeus, and Plato. 



Panel Discussions  135

It is important to note that in each of these charts, the major-
ity group holds around 70% of the content. In the region category, 
North America is 67% of the content. In the gender category, male 
authors make up 70% of the books. Finally, 71% of the books assigned 
for Candler School of Theology courses are by white authors. This 
means that throughout the Candler curriculum, White, male, and 
North American voices are given priority. In each category, more 
than two-thirds of the content is from these traditionally overrep-
resented groups. 

Use

As of June 2021, I presented the initial findings of this project to a 
small group of faculty and staff who make up the Library, Media, and 
Technology committee at Candler. I received positive feedback from 
this group, and they will connect me with additional stakeholders 
in each area of the school of theology. I am working on creating an 
interactive Tableau dashboard with this data so that charts can be 
manipulated and additional data breakdowns can be viewed more 

FIGURE 3: Breakdown of authors by race and ethnicity.



136  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

easily. This resource will then be helpful in facilitating upcoming 
discussions with faculty from each of the four areas of study.

When presenting this data, I emphasize to faculty that the goal 
is not to single anyone out or critique a certain class. The data is in 
aggregate so faculty identities are protected, and the intent is for 
this information to be helpful to theology faculty. As a library, we 
provide many tools that faculty can use to inform their pedagogy. 
This is one that can help them view course materials in a way they 
might not have considered. 

Finally, throughout my presentation of this project, I emphasize 
that the reason for it is to promote engagement with the content, not 
just acquisition of the content. It’s not enough to just buy books by 
authors from different backgrounds and with different identities. 
It’s important that we find ways of engaging students with these 
materials and one of the best ways of doing that is by incorporat-
ing it into the curriculum. Course reserves are the most-used items 
in our library and so should be the best representation of what we 
want our curriculum to include. 

Considerations

When I mention this project to faculty or to other librarians, one of 
the first questions that arises is the availability of books on theol-
ogy topics written by BIPOC scholars, female scholars, and scholars 
from outside North America. My initial response to this question is 
to invite them to investigate further what titles are available and 
why those titles would or would not be suitable for their classes. In 
many cases, it’s not that there aren’t books by people from these 
groups on a specific subject. The problem is that people from these 
groups have a perspective that does not fit with the established 
curriculum. Faculty may need to adjust their pedagogy to include 
more perspectives. 

However, I do not want to overlook the fact that there are far 
fewer books published each year authored by women and BIPOC 
than those authored by men or by White authors. Therefore, I invite 
faculty, librarians, publishers, scholars, and professionals in every 
area of academia to consider the systems within our industries. 

Reports from the Council of Graduate Schools demonstrate that 
graduate enrollment in women, people of color, and students origi-
nating from outside the United States has risen steadily over the past 
ten years (Council 2020). However, barriers at every point in the 



Panel Discussions  137

process keep people who do not fit into the typical perception of what 
constitutes an academic or theologian from gaining the notability 
necessary to get their work published or have their work assigned 
in graduate courses. 

From the point of admission and recruitment in graduate schools, 
we should look at who theology schools are recruiting. Who are our 
admissions departments pursuing? Who is being granted scholar-
ships? Once students arrive on campus, how are they welcomed? 
Are faculty creating inclusive environments? What content is being 
taught? During their graduate studies, are students assigned advisors 
with whom they share an identity? Which students are encouraged 
to pursue postgraduate studies? From the perspective of publish-
ers, what qualifications are necessary to be published? What type 
of scholarship does your company prioritize? In the library, what 
resources are we teaching students to use? What content are we 
spending our limited budgets on? Why do we prioritize books by 
some authors over others?

These are just a few of the many considerations that must be 
considered in every area of academia when viewing our library 
collections through an anti-racist lens. Each of these factors contrib-
utes to the overall makeup of what books are ultimately assigned for 
theology courses. It’s easy to look at the magnitude of this situation 
and blame the parts of this system that we can’t individually control. 
However, when we look to point fingers at others, we are abandon-
ing the responsibility we have to change our own areas of influence.

Identifying the statistical realities of our textbooks is not a solu-
tion to racial inequities in theological education. In How to Be an 
Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi writes, “We can knowingly strive to be an 
antiracist. Like fighting an addiction, being an antiracist requires 
persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-
examination.” (Kendi 2019, 23) A collection diversity audit is one 
form of self-awareness and self-examination. I encourage you to use 
this as inspiration for implementing anti-racist projects in your own 
libraries. You can’t expect any one project to be a solution for such 
a huge issue, but you can help create a culture of self-examination 
that works towards anti-racist goals. 



138  AT L A 202 1 PROCEEDINGS

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Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. 1997. Definitions 
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Jensen, Karen. 2018. “Diversity Auditing 101: How to Evaluate Your 
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www.slj.com/?detailStory=diversity-auditing-101-how-to-evalu-
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Kendi, Ibram X. 2019. How to Be an Antiracist. New York: Random 
House.

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