Did Libraries "Change the Subject"?

What Happened, What Didn't,

and What's Ahead

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Jill Baron, Tina Gross, and Violet Fox

April 14, 2023

NETSL 2023

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Jill Baron

Tina Gross

Violet Fox

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“Illegal aliens” headings timeline

2014

Dartmouth College students demand changes

2015

March -June 2016

January 2016

Dartmouth librarians submit revision proposal; LC rejects proposal

ALA Council resolution urges LC to revise headings

LC announces it will revise headings;

Congress pushes back

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“Illegal aliens” headings timeline

2019

May-September

2016

LC asks for public feedback through a survey

ALA Council rejects resolutions to revise headings & provide more staffing at LC

Revisions to headings are implemented

Change the Subject film released

June

2021

November-December

2021

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2021 change

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• Aliens → Noncitizens
• Illegal aliens → Illegal immigration + Noncitizens

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Why the LCSH “Illegal immigration” is still a problem

• The "I" word is still stigmatizing and othering, still criminalizes the undocumented
• The term "illegal immigration" suggests that undocumented presence in the US is a criminal violation, which is inaccurate and misleading (and again, criminalizing)
• Splitting a subject heading into two is always difficult and messy; replacing “Illegal aliens” with “Undocumented immigrants” would have been less complicated and clearer for library users
• In many cases where "Undocumented immigrants" would be appropriate because a work is about their experience, "Illegal immigration" is problematic because the work is not about policy or laws
• "Illegal immigration" as a subject heading risks (encourages?) misapplication
• Catalogers should not be declaring whose status is "illegal," only courts do that

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Some examples…

Dreamers: An Immigrant Generation's Fight for Their American Dream

Land of the Cranes

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Land of the Cranes

LCSH in LC catalog https://lccn.loc.gov/2022279822

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement--Juvenile fiction.

Deportation--United States--Juvenile fiction.

Detention of persons--United States--Juvenile fiction.

Families--California--Los Angeles--Juvenile fiction.

Noncitizens--Juvenile fiction.

Immigrants--United States--Juvenile fiction.

Mexicans--California--Los Angeles--Juvenile fiction.

Illegal immigration--Juvenile fiction.

Los Angeles (Calif.)--Juvenile fiction.

Nine-year-old Betita and her parents fled Mexico after her uncle was killed by the cartels, and settled in Los Angeles seeking political asylum and safety in what her father calls Aztlan, the land of the cranes; but now they have been swept up by the government's Immigration Customs Enforcement, her father deported back to Mexico, and Betita and her mother confined in a family detention camp--Betita finds heart in her imagination and the picture poems her father taught her, but each day threatens to further tear her family apart.

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Dreamers: An Immigrant Generation's Fight for Their American Dream

LCSH in LC catalog https://lccn.loc.gov/2014031771

LCSH in OCLC WorldCat https://www.worldcat.org/title/894777582

Noncitizen children--Government policy--United States.

Children of noncitizens--Education--Law and legislation--United States.

Noncitizens--Education (Higher)--United States.

United States--Emigration and immigration--Social aspects.

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Children of noncitizens--Education--Law and legislation--United States.

Noncitizen children--Government policy--United States.

Noncitizens--Education (Higher)--United States.

United States--Emigration and immigration--Social aspects.

Illegal immigration--Law and legislation--United States.

Illegal immigration--Government policy--United States.

Illegal immigration--United States.

Noncitizens.

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Reaction

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Reactions

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Focus groups about LC change

• 12 sessions November-December 2021
• 130 total participants

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Persistent topics/themes from the focus groups

• Dismay over choice of terms
• Frustration with lack of transparency at the Library of Congress
• Concern about bifurcation of heading

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Focus group participants wanted:

• Collaboration on these issues across libraries
• Guidance about implementing local changes across platforms/systems
• Technical solutions without fancy workarounds
• More information about alternative vocabularies

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Developments over last 2 years

• Focus groups
• More vendors provide options for local changes in terminology and display
• Changes at LC: more staff & new SACO Funnels
• Equitable Immigration Subject Heading Cooperative (developed out of ALA’s Services to Refugees, Immigrants, and Displaced Persons Sub-Committee)
• Survey

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Survey

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Survey results

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Survey results

• Of the respondents who did not make local changes, 17 out of 26 (65%) agreed with this statement:

LC's 2021 revisions to instead use "Illegal immigration" and "Noncitizens" are acceptable; don't see a need for local changes.

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How can you help?

• Take the survey
• Propose changes to LCSH / join a SACO Funnel
• Join the Equitable Immigration Subject Heading Cooperative
• Spread the word

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Conclusion

What happened?

What didn’t?

What’s ahead?

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