Street Lit

I am much closer to total acceptance of street lit than I was a year ago. I believe that all of Megan Honig's arguments for the genre are valid and I see the importance of it in a young adult collection. After thinking about this some more I believe that this embodies a core issue in collection development: no matter what the content or quality of these books, the bottom line is that library patrons WANT them. That should be the number one reason to add any materials into a collection. I think the problem is that teens are often not regarded with the same reverence as adult readers and so their needs are often not taken as seriously as those of adults or children. Their collections and spaces don't get enough money, and many adults think it's their perrogative to choose what they SHOULD read. I think that is where resistance to street lit begins. In some ways all the arguments about relatable content, writing style and voice are irrelevant because libraries should ALWAYS try to purchase materials requested by their patrons. In New York City, street lit is an extremely popular genre with teens just as romance novels are popular with women. Even though most teens cannot vote, drive or pay taxes they are just as likely to use libraries. Their needs and wants should be treated with the same respect given to adult patrons. If they want manga, street lit or Catcher in the Rye it is our obligation to make those materials available.