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Click here for 2023 Students Shape the Shelves book selections

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Click here for 2023 Students Shape the Shelves book selections

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Bryn Mawr College Library Collection Development Internship

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Bryn Mawr College Library Collection Development Internship

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During Spring Break, six undergraduate students participated in the inaugural Libraries Collection Development Internship organized by librarians in Library and Information Technology Services (LITS). The goal was to expand and diversify BMC's library collection by having the students choose books for the library and to highlight the importance of connecting books and communities. Browse the 2022 titles.

We learned about collection development goals and processes at Bryn Mawr Libraries, at the Bryn Mawr College Bookshop, and at Ludington Public Library in Bryn Mawr.

We visited local Philadelphia bookstores Uncle Bobbie's and Giovanni's Room where we learned about the curation of these collections, the history of these stores and their role in their communities. Interns then scoured the shelves and chose a wide selection of books that BMC students and staff will enjoy reading and which reflects our community. Through this internship, LITS established community partnerships by supporting independent local bookstores while simultaneously expanding our library collection.

Student Participants:
Lisa Adanye '23, Anjali Bose '24, Darpan Chahal '24, Ali Fowler '24, Kit Hoskins '23, Ilana Panth '22

LITS Staff Participants:
Joyce Angelucci, Kate Blinn, Berry Chamness, Jennifer Coval, Amy Graham, Camilla MacKay, Laura Surtees, and Arleen Zimmerle

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Over the course of the week, we met with BMC librarians, Jim at the BMC bookstore, Ludington librarians, and booksellers at Giovanni’s Room and Uncle Bobbie’s. During these meetings, not only did we learn about the acquisition process and other technical aspects of running these spaces, we also talked about the role each space serves within its community. The role of community was particularly highlighted during our conversation at Giovanni’s Room, where we learned about the community rallying to save the bookstore from closure. These conversations, and the work we did throughout the week, highlighted to me the importance of libraries and bookstores as community spaces, and prompted me to reflect on how Bryn Mawr’s libraries can best represent and serve students on campus. I especially appreciated how much the Bryn Mawr librarians wanted to hear from us, as we suggested ways that the libraries could connect with students, even if our suggestions went beyond the scope of the internship. This week was a really valuable opportunity for us to connect with the wider community

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During my week working with the libraries to help diversify our collections, I’ve been exposed to an extensive amount of open dialogue and insight from both library staff and fellow students alike on how we can work to make the libraries a safe and inclusive space to all members in the Bryn Mawr community. We also spent time at local, independent Philadelphia bookstores and were able to discuss the importance of independent bookstores within their communities and how booksellers work to ensure their collections reflect the community they are a part of. The same sentiment was an overarching goal of this internship, allowing students to choose books to diversify the Bryn Mawr collection that will hopefully bring more students into the libraries, and I feel extremely fulfilled having been able to be a part of this work for our community as a whole.

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Having the opportunity to work on collection development has been so fun! We were able to visit two historic and influential bookstores: Uncle Bobbie’s, Giovanni’s Room. We learned more about Bryn Mawr’s facilities and spoke to the Bryn Mawr Bookstore and explored all three libraries on campus: Canaday, Carpenter, and Collier. Before this internship, I did not realize that there is an immense amount of time, labor, and care necessary for a book to arrive on a shelf and, eventually, into my hands. After this experience, I feel reinvigorated as a reader and a learner and I feel closer to the Bryn Mawr Libraries! Thank you!

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I loved this internship! I came into it with a little library experience, but I had no idea about how libraries and bookstores choose their collections until now. It was so cool getting to learn about how these spaces function within their communities -- not just as libraries and bookstores, but also as important gathering spaces for people to come together and communicate in a variety of different ways. I hope the things that we’ve learned and worked on help the Bryn Mawr community feel more in touch with their libraries, and that our work to diversify the collections makes it easier for every student to find a book that resonates with them.

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My experience with this internship has opened my eyes to the world of library collections and the importance of storytelling within Independent Bookstores. Both Uncle Bobbie’s bookstore and Giovanni’s Room served as more than just bookstores, but also a safe place for communities to gather and connect with one another. Books represent more than one’s individual knowledge being recorded and shared, but they also represent a form of communication and connection to bring people closer together. The mission of these bookstores inspired my mission while choosing which books I wanted to add to Bryn Mawr’s collection: which books would serve our community best by forming connections between individuals and representing the students who make up our student body as a means to start healthy dialogue and learning? With this question in mind, I was able to find books that not only shared different perspectives, but also tackled different genres, themes and interests that I hope the Bryn Mawr community can enjoy and benefit from for many years to come!

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Founded in 2017 by Marc Lamont Hill, Uncle Bobbie’s Coffee & Books aims to highlight authors from underrepresented groups and provide books to underserved members of the community. It was opened as a safe space for underserved communities interested in literature to find a place of belonging. The bookshop has made a name for itself since the dual pandemic of 2020 because many people reached out for books to help understand racial inequality in this country.

Uncle Bobbie’s also has a wonderful selection of children’s books and fiction. Be it fantasy, romance, adventure, or Afrofuturism, Uncle Bobbie’s has it covered. The best part about the bookshop is the coziness. Everything is aesthetically pleasing, from the calming lighting to the most beautiful text hangings, to a selection of books that just calls you to pick them up. You won’t want to leave after entering the bookstore. The bookstore also has high-quality coffee, food products, apparel, and other interesting things for you to explore.

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Ties That Tether follows the character Azere, who promised her Nigerian father that she would marry a Nigerian man when the time came. Once Azere is all grown up, she finds herself falling for a white man named Rafael. This book spoke to me because as a woman of color and a daughter of immigrants, I always steer away from the idea of interracial relationships due to the additional challenges that would accompany them. The underlying fear that you are letting down both your partner and your family leaves one in a position of conflict that compromises one’s happiness in order to fulfill someone else’s expectations of them. Azere’s story gives an incredibly detailed perspective of what it is like to navigate the world of interracial dating as a person of color who has to live with the expectations of immigrant parents as well as living in a world that defines you as “other.”

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Giovanni’s Room, named for the James Baldwin novel, is the oldest continuously operating LGBTQ+ bookstore in the country. Since 1973, it has served as a vital gathering space for the queer community of Philadelphia: carrying the small selection of LGBTQ+ literature available in the earliest days of the gay liberation movement, being a space for communal connection and mourning during the AIDS crisis, and existing today as a landmark of queer American history.

Despite many ups and downs -- from eviction by homophobic landlords to financial failure during the recession of the early 2000s -- Giovanni’s Room, now partnered with local nonprofit Philly AIDS Thrift, continues to thrive today, carrying contemporary queer literature from mainstream,  small-press, and self-published local authors as well as a sizable used book collection. As part of a non-profit organization, they are now able to donate a portion of their proceeds to help those living with HIV.

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I wanted to be a part of this internship because the thought of adding my view to diversifying the collections at Bryn Mawr appealed to me. I am glad I took this initiative because I got a lot more than I went in for. I had an amazing team of five other smart interns from different backgrounds that I worked with. Listening to their views opened a whole new perspective for me. The library staff was very knowledgeable and easy to work with, I could not have spent my break with better people. I learned how books are curated for the library and bookstores. I learned about the process of book orders, the cost involved in ebook and print versions of books. The various forms of funding, subscriptions, licenses, and how the Tri-co decides who buys what books, cataloging and repairing of books in the library. I found out more about exhibitions and special collections in Canaday. I learned about the difference between public libraries and academic libraries. How bookstores make money. I learned that most authors reach out to bookstores but their books may not necessarily be accepted because of the reviews or proofreading. Amazon has also become a big giant in the book industry, with kindle, GoodReads, and Abebooks as branches of amazon, it is almost impossible to escape this unethical giant. I also learned about the #OwnVoice and how it both helped diverse authors bring out their books while acting as a double-edged sword in restricting creativity. We read articles on how publishers want a whole sob story of the lives of authors before they can verify that they are authentic enough to publish books. Overall, I will say I am more knowledgeable about library and bookstore work, the processes involved, the role they play in the community, the choices they have to make in their selection, and how they almost always listen to the community they serve.

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Unapologetic: a Black, Queer, Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene A. Carruthers

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Unapologetic draws from a long tradition of activism for racial and sexual liberation to provide readers with models of effective grassroots organizing, while also challenging us to make our activism more inclusive. Black liberation movements, Carruthers argues, must be “more radical, more queer, and more feminist”. Knowing the passion that Bryn Mawr students have for liberatory justice, this title was chosen to help provide community members with tools for organizing and for confronting our own activism where it falls short of full intersectional collective liberation.

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Judging a Book by its Lover by Lauren Leto

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This is the perfect study break book. While we were looking for books to add to the collection, some of the other students in the internship and I began flipping through this book. It has a section about what your favorite author says about you, along with other silly, fun commentary.

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Rajiv Mohabir tackles themes of family, queerness, caste, acceptance, rejection, home, colonialism, and the self in his genre-blending work, Antiman. Through using poetry and prose, Mohabir writes about his experience growing up queer and Indo-Guyanese. In many contexts, Mohabir found himself attempting to exist in ‘two worlds’ and he recounts his search for a space he could call ‘home’ and feel truly accepted. Antiman emphasizes the bravery it takes to tell one’s story in a world that is hell-bent on silencing you.

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Left to right: Ilana Panth, Ali Fowler, Kit Hoskins, Lisa Adanye, Anjali Bose, Darpan Chahal

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The Sisters are Alright by Tamora Winfrey Harris

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I chose this book because it is a book about changing the negative narrative around black women in America. The Sisters Are Alright delves into areas like marriage, motherhood, health, sexuality, beauty, and more. And, using progressive author analysis brought to life by the stories of real women, reveals the effects of anti-black woman propaganda and how real black women are living their lives and pushing back against distorted cartoon versions of themselves.

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The Everything I Have Lost by Sylvia Aguilar Zeleny

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Using a diary entry format, this book narrates the hard reality of growing up in an often times dangerous country. Despite Mexico being our bordering country, many people in America are unaware of the corrupt and dangerous aspects of Mexico that led many to look for safety in America. Those of us who are of Mexican descent are endlessly aware of these realities and how they’ve affected ourselves on our families, and Aguilar Zeleny puts that reality into a novel that many would benefit from reading. Whether this story resonates with your own, or you have no knowledge of what is going on in Mexico, this is an important and impactful read for anyone.

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Word cloud of student responses to What do role do libraries and bookstores play in connecting with their communities? 

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I chose the book because I found it interesting and informative. It is a collection of essays from The Bachelor’s first Black Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay. It explores the drama associated with being the bachelorette, love, politics, and race. What drew me to the book was the text “Contrary to popular belief, the best gift I ever received was not a wedding ring. It was the permission I gave myself to be imperfect.” Rachel advocates making your own path and doing what you like, because according to her, if you are doing what you love, then you are living your dreams. I believe this book will help someone struggling with following their heart to go for it.

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In her book, Females, author Andrea Long Chu opens with the argument that “everyone is female and everyone hates it”. Females aims to critically discuss gender in a way that is humorous, witty, and, to a certain degree, satirical. The influence of Valerie Solanas’ SCUM manifesto is evident, but Chu takes this ‘bit’ of seemingly indefensible (and oft regarded as outrageous) gender theory one step further in her claim that everyone is female. Chu defines gender as a state of being that is defined by desire, or rather, the sacrifice of oneself for the desire of others. Chu, in Females, reflects on her own transness and attempts to reckon with her complex feelings about identity and its vastness. Females is a rather short book discussing complex and theoretical notions of the self that pulls from the writings of philosophers such as Kant but does so in a way that is accessible and entertaining to the average reader.

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Tell Me How To Be follow Renu Amin and her grown son Aakash, who come together to pack up their family house after Renu’s husband's death. This story is one that includes themes of resentment and regret, complex emotional relationships, and the challenges of mother-son dynamics. This book appealed to me because one of the main themes includes the emotionality of South Asian family dynamics, a topic that is rarely covered by authors. As both mother and son are grappling with their ideas of who they are and how they want to present themselves to the world, they are also navigating their own relationship with each other, making me think of my own growth within a South Asian family as well as my own personal growth within the greater community. I hope this book can serve as a perspective on the unique complications that accompany self-discovery, especially within the South Asian community, as well as a reference to navigating the dynamics of complicated family structures.

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I Don’t Want to Die Poor by Michael Arceneaux

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This collection of essays highlights the economic anxiety of debt in America, specifically in the context of race, sexuality, and career. Arceneaux writes of his own struggles with debt and how it's caused his dream career to become a nightmare. Those of who didn’t grow up financially stable and/or aspire for a career that can not ensure financial stability can resonate with realities Arceneaux depicts in his writing. As college students, a majority of us have struggled with the ideas of our futures and how finance and debt attach to it, and if anything, this book provides a sense of relatability to what many of us have and are experiencing.

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Interns browsing the shelves of Uncle Bobbie's

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This book encapsulates the dual pandemic many of us faced as the world shut down in March 2020: Covid 19 and police brutality. Highlighting this moment in time through a YA novel,
Farley helps illuminate how many young POC felt during this time. I was drawn to this book due to the overwhelming sense of reality it created just through this summary. Now, 2 years later, many of the same issues stand today, and looking back to the start of one pandemic and the continuation of the other, perhaps can help emphasize the progress that still needs to be made.

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Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You by Ariel Delgado Dixon

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Don’t Say We Didn’t Warn You by Ariel Delgado Dixon follows two sisters as they reckon with their traumatic and tragic upbringing focusing on their experience at a wilderness camp for troubled teen girls. This queer thriller explores themes of identity, sisterhood, family, trust, adolescence, trauma, and destruction. Dixon writes an intriguing story that asks readers why we hold on to pain, and how the pain continues to shape us.

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Ali exploring the collection at Giovanni's Room

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This book follows widower Hubert Bird, as he lies to his daughter on their weekly telephone calls and paints pictures of all the socializing he’s been up to. When his daughter announces she’s visiting, Hubert scrambles to make his real life resemble the life he’s been pretending to have. Although this book explores heavy topics such as aging, death, and racism, it does so through a humorous premise. Many of the books we found at Giovanni’s Room and Uncle’s Bobbie’s are very heavy, and I wanted to add something to the collection that features characters of color but isn’t super heavy.

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This story is about a young boy named Jean who goes in search of his brother who left their hometown in Cameroon to pursue a future as a soccer player in Europe. After not hearing from his brother, Jean, with the help of his neighbor Simon, set out on the road where they encounter life threatening challenges and unsafe situations. What appealed to me about this book is the complicated representation of family and siblinghood. Jean is so committed to his brother that even while mourning his father, he is committed to ensuring his brother's safety. As someone with an older sibling, it always interests me to see how sibling dynamics differ based on individual background and upbringing. Furthermore, I have not read many works by Cameroonian authors, therefore this work offers a new perspective which I am yet to encounter from this character's interaction with his culture and surroundings in the context of familial ties.

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This essay collection examines multiculturalism, diaspora, and queerness through the lens of Black identity. Although this is a more academic text, as I was flipping through the book I found that there were lots of accessible pieces that weren’t too dense to read. These pieces help make sense of what it means to be queer and what is means to be Black, and how we can understand these identities through one another. I’m really excited about the fact that these are relatively accessible pieces, and I’m excited to add this to the collection.

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Bookstore manager Evisa Gallman at Uncle Bobbie's explaining the curation of their collection.

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Kit, Ilana and Ali listening to staff at Giovanni's Room discuss collection development.

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Dreaming of You: A Novel in Verse by Melissa Lozada-Oliva

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The summary of this book immediately drew me in– how can you not be drawn in by a resurrection of Tejano pop-star Selena, gossiping spirits, and a dead celebrity prom. Melissa
Lozada-Oliva has become a familiar name for avid readers of books about Latinidad, and being one of those readers myself, I was excited to see a novel written by her that so immediately piqued my interest. Dreaming of You: A Novel in Prose is a book for many– whether you love poetry and just really love Selena (as many of us do), pick up this book to go on a prose rollercoaster of absurdity, enchantment, and heart.

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Sociologist Danielle J. Lindemann uses reality tv as a tool to examine modern American society in True Story. Lindemann chronicles the history of reality tv and explores the influence and impact this genre of television has had on us as people. True Story challenges readers to critically question societal structures such as schools, family, and prison and what they regard as ‘real’ and interrogate the notions we hold about who is allowed to be ‘real’ and who is relegated to solely
being viewed as a form of entertainment. Lindemann’s True Story would be an interesting, educational, and eye-opening read for both the dedicated sociology student and devoted
Toddlers & Tiaras fan.

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No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado

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I chose this book because I believe a lot of people can relate to it. Social media plays a major role in the lives of people, and sometimes we can get away with whatever identity we decide to show the world. This book showcases a lady who took it a bit far and goes on to rectify it. It is a book that I believe everyone who uses social media, as well as anyone with identity issues should have a chance to read.

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We Want it All: an Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics edited by Andrea Abi-Karam and Kay Gabriel

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This beautiful anthology, written by trans poets and compiled by Abi-Karam and Gabriel, attempts to articulate that which is impossible to encapsulate fully: the revolutionary potential of trans lived experiences, beyond the confines of an individual life or body. Described as a “stunner… of gender fuckery in literature,” We Want it All is a cacophony of voices telling their own radical stories. This title was chosen with Bryn Mawr’s love of inclusivity in the arts in mind, and I hope readers enjoy this work as much as I did.

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Gay Bar: Why We Went Out by Jeremy Atherton Lin

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This brilliantly beautiful title is half-history, half-memoir, as the author delves into the past -- and his own memories -- of queer nightlife. In exploring the gay bar as communal space, as hiding place, as symbol of the harsher necessities of queer history, Atherton Lin also takes a look at what, in the mainstream and online era of queer communities, has been lost to time alongside it. I chose this title for the collection because of the communal history it tells as well as the personal, knowing that the Bryn Mawr community would enjoy this intimate glimpse into the queer past.

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Ain't Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds. Illustrated by Jason Griffin

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Ain’t Burned All the Bright features impactful poetry by Jason Reynolds and stunning artwork by Jason Griffin. The book focuses on the experience of a Black family reckoning with the dual pandemic of COVID-19 and police brutality of 2020. The novel features 300 pages of original artwork accompanied by a total of 10 sentences addressing the theme of breathing and oxygen, and all the implications and symbolism these concepts currently hold. Ain’t Burned All the Bright is a tragically beautiful telling of the horrific events of our modern history and serves as a piece of contemplation, grievance, rage, heartbreak, and hopefulness.

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This memoir reflects on the author’s experience growing up with an incarcerated father (who is in prison for reasons the author doesn’t know). Although the author’s relationship to her father is a central thread throughout the work, this memoir focuses on the process of growing up and the author’s relationship to her mother. I personally love memoirs, and find that the genre is an especially powerful way to step into someone else’s shoes, so I’m excited to add this book to our collection.

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Would you change the past if you were given the chance? This sci-fi debut is a fast-paced adventure reaching across time periods to share the intertwining stories of Esso and Rhia, two Black British teenagers separated by fifteen years’ time who come together when, after a car crash, Esso begins seeing glimpses of the future. I chose this book after being drawn in by its sci-fi premise as well as the perspective of the protagonists, two Black teens living in modern-day South London. If you’ve never read a science fiction book before, this might be a good place to start!

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This book examines the impact of The Baby-Sitter’s Club series through essays and artwork. How did The Baby-Sitter’s Club inform the way its readers thought about gender and friendship? How did the Baby-Sitter’s Club portray race, class, and sexuality? I read many books from The Baby-Sitter’s Club when I was growing up, and I’m excited to re-examine a nostalgic part of my childhood through these essays. I thought that others in the Bryn Mawr community might be similarly interested in returning to these books with a more critical lens, which is why I selected this book for the collection.

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Red Lip Theology by Candice Marie Benbow

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I picked this book because it addresses the stigma around women who doesn’t follow society’s norm. Especially women who grew up with religious beliefs, sometimes being told they can or can’t do things because of religion. This constantly makes these women feel like they are the worst people on earth, and most people abandon religion to live a life untainted by the stigma. This book addresses being a Christian and also living your life from a perspective of an author who has lived this experience, and I believe there are a lot of people who can find answers here.

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Click for the complete list of books selected by the student interns now in the BMC library.