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Feministe Feedback: Stocking a Library with Feminist Books

Jill

Feministe Feedback

A great call for suggestions:

I’m a young feminist librarian in my first out of grad-school professional job, and I’ve already volunteered to fix up the feminist section of our library, which consists of about 8 books entirely about second-wave white women. My boss is only letting me purchase 3-4 new books for the section, and we’ll see how well those check out. But I don’t really know what to buy. Our non-fiction standards are pretty tight, and we only purchase books published in the last 5 years unless there is an extraordinary need and I want something that is third-wave and diverse. I could go with Full Frontal Feminism and/or It’s A Jungle Out There, but I really would like something that focuses more on WOC because we have a lot of Hispanic and black residents here. And given the anger towards Seal Press, I would like to find some alternatives. I would like to keep it on an “intro to feminism” level, at least for now. Anyone have any suggestions?

Any thoughts? Which feminist books must a library have?

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52 thoughts on Feministe Feedback: Stocking a Library with Feminist Books

  1. Anything by bell hooks. srsly. What work you choose depends on what you want the section to be…do you want it to be more of an overview, i.e. what is feminism, what are the theories out there, or do you want it to get into deep theory? If it’s the former, Feminism is for Everybody is fantastic. In the second category, perhaps Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black; Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center; or Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. She also has a newer book about masculinity out, although I haven’t read any excerpts yet, but it looks promising from reviews.

  4. I first just gotta say that I really appreciate what you’re doing! As a feminist and as someone who works in a library. Rock on!
    Then I just gotta second what the first poster says. Go with at least one bell hooks book.

  5. um as someone who did a lot of book-buying for a gender resource centre library, i have about a million ideas for this…but some good ones might include

    we don’t need another wave: dispatches from the next generation of feminists, ed. by melody berger

    colonize this!: young women of color talk about feminism ed. daisy hernandez

    baby remember my name: an anthology of new queer girl writing ed. michelle tea

    whipping girl: a transsexual woman on sexism and the scapegoating of femininity by julia serano

    those are some of my favourites from the library, but i could definitely go on..also i would definitely agree with ‘anything by bell hooks’.

  6. Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism – This is a classic, and while I’m still feeling salty at Seal, every young feminist (white or non-white) should read this. I still quote from it.

    Border-Line Personalities: A New Generation of Latinas Dish on Sex, Sass, and Cultural Shifting – Great book that describes the lives of Latina feminists, from all over.

    Naked: Black Women Bare All About Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts – Narratives from women who may not call themselves feminists, but are just the same.

    Home Girls Make Some Noise: A Hip-Hop Feminist Anthology – takes pains to deal in male and female perspectives, queer perspectives and queer space in hip-hop, lots on misogyny, slut shaming, and growing up girl. Also takes into consideration some international perspectives on the export of hip-hop culture.

    And depending on where you are and the demo of your library:

    YELL-oh Girls! Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American – There is an awesome essay in this anthology that starts with “I was a fuck me feminist before I had my first kiss.”

    When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down – Joan Morgan’s founding text for the hip-hop feminist movement. Still resonates strongly and she is very conscious of gaps in her own narrative.

  7. The first book I added to the feminism section of my personal library was Jessica Valenti’s [i]Full Frontal Feminism[/i]. It’s a good intro to feminism and why it matters, plus it’s funny, and fun to read.

  8. Anthologies are probably a good way to get a whole lot of writers and perspectives in despite your 3-4 book limit. Last five years is tough, though – I was all ready to suggest all sorts of stuff before I saw that. I think that classics like Home Girls (ed. by Barbara Smith) and Sister Outsider (Audre Lorde) might warrant “extraordinary need.” This Bridge We Call Home (eds. Anzaldúa and Keating) is a follow up to This Bridge Called My Back and was published in 2002, so maybe you could squeak it in? Colonize This! also was published in 2002 and looks good, though I’ve not read it. The Fire This Time: Young Activists and the New Feminism also looks good though I’ve not read it and was published in 2004.

    This thread makes me realize that I need to start looking for some new feminist/woman of color writings! I think being out of college for a while has made me less aware of new stuff and more lazy about seeking it out.

  9. Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives, edited by McCann and Kim (2002). This has an overview of the major feminist theories from the second wave through today with a heavy emphasis on theories from WOC and from non-Western women. It sounds a little dry, but I have been more turned on to feminism and its complexities by reading these collected essays than anything else.

  10. Any way we can make book donations to the school? I mean, if they’re letting you have new books but the problem is cost… A lot of us could donate an old book or two, or send a new one.

    If you gave me guidelines and a place to send books, I’ve got a ton of old feminist books lying around that would be better used in a high school library. Why buy Colonize This! when I can just give it to you?

  12. “Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings” by Miriam Schneir. Very early stuff, utterly inspiring.

    I love the quote on the back from Adrienne Rich: “Part of a shelf of early second-wave feminist books that I’ve carried with me wherever I lived for years to help remind me of the early, exciting days of recovering past texts.” I plan to do the same!

    Good luck to you, and thanks for your work!

  13. Andrea Smith’s books aren’t all within 5 years, but they are by a working (as opposed to retired) scholar…would that fly?

  14. Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty by Dorothy Roberts

  15. I’m currently reading Color of Violence, from the INCITE Women of Color Against Violence Collective, published by South End Press. It’s from 2006 and highly recommended by a lot of people I trust (brownfemipower and many, many other WOC bloggers among them) and centers the discussion of anti-violence activism squarely on women of color and the question of “how do we end violence against women of color?”, full stop. I really like it thus far, and I am NOT very far in yet. It seems to do a great job of synthesizing state violence and domestic/interpersonal violence, while outlining different approaches that mainstream (ie white) feminism has neglected or downright ignored. It looks to be all about intersectionality, and that is SORELY lacking in most academic feminist texts, especially white 3rd wavers who claim direct descendence from white 2nd wavers.

  17. I’d have to second This Bridge Called My Back. It’s not third-wave, but it’s a serious classic.

    Are you allowed to buy for other sections? Because you could sneak in people like Audre Lorde, Chrystos, and June Jordan into the poetry section…and there’s all sorts of great fiction – authors like Sapphire, Julia Alvarez, Jewelle Gomez, Octavia Butler…

    Also, RE/Search’s Angry Women is all sorts of fun and controversial and scary.

  18. “The Way We Never Were”– not technically a women’s studies book but full of feminist writing about the cultural history of the American family and the myths that surround it.

  19. That five year rule really makes this tough. Latoya mentioned some of the books I was thinking of. If there is anyway possible to get past the five year rule, how about Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins. I love it and it really shaped how I view feminism as a black woman. Plus, I think it’s a great introductory book.

  20. Sisterhood is Forever edited by Robin Morgan is from 2003 and We Got Issues edited by Rha Goddess and JLove Calderon is from 2006. they’re both good anthologies.

  23. i agree, anthologies might be the way to go in order to get a broader spectrum of voices. i second (or third or fourth) colonize this!

    bitchfest, which also has a lot of cool multi-ethnic articles.

    manifesta

    dear sisters, which is a really cool book because basically a collection of primary sources (like leaflets, essays, etc.) from the women’s lib mvt, so it’s really accessible (and fun to browse through!)

    separate roads to feminism: black, chicana, and white feminist movements in america’s second wave

  24. I have some not-feminism-101-but-a-more-practical-feminism/history-theory-

    College Girls or (better yet) Pink Think which explore women in college historically and the way we raise/educate women through toys and media focusing especially on the 50s-though-70s, respectively.

    Singled Out! about being single and loving it.

    Admittedly, these are not written by WOC, nor are they anthologies, but they really make you think.

  25. Oh, and Warrior Queens, a book about women who have lead their countries into battles. There are some Queens of Color in the book, but it was published in 1990. But its cool! People love royalty!

  27. Can you try getting some feminism in with purchases for other sections? Someone mentioned Esperanza Rising already, there’s lots of good young adult feminist fiction to choose from. You can also try to get them to make other nonfiction purchases – I’m thinking health, parenting, pregnancy, politics, psychology, history, sociology, etc. – that are feminist but not ‘just’ about feminism. If you spun it as a way to get in something that the library is really missing while also improving their other collections, you might get some more purchasing power.

    Good luck !!!

  30. I would suggest Life Notes, which is edited by Patricia Bell-Scott and has a few Barbara Smith essays in it. It’s not third wave, but it has been one of the most significant and touching collection of non-fiction memoirs that I have read. It’s extremely varied in the topics it touches on; issues of ability, choice of profession, coming out stories, consciousness-raising techniques, etc.

  31. Cunt, by Inga Muscio.

    While not being exactly “Feminism 101,” it has introduced many womyn and men (that do not explicitly call themselves feminists) I know to feminism. It’s an amazing book!!!

    ya… let me know about donations, too

  32. oh wait… i guess my e-mail doesn’t show up… well, please post an address if you would like book donations to be sent!

  33. Well, I think people here have covered all the suggestions that came to my mind 🙂

    And I too would be happy to donate a book or two if that’s possible!

  34. Just adding to the chorus of people willing to donate. I was a critical gender studies major, I’ve got all kinds of stuff lying around collecting dust.

  35. Policing the National Body, which is an anthology. One of the contributors is Andrea Smith who wrote a really good essay.

    Other great books have already been mentioned.

  36. It’s not within your five year rule, but I still can’t recommend Backlash by Susan Faludi highly enough. One of the best introductions to the idea of patriarchy I’ve ever read.

  37. I’d recommend “Defending Pornography” by Nadine Strossen. It’s a great rebuttal of the ideas that feminism is anti consensual, fun sex and that it’s a narrow set of rules and ideas. I really didn’t like “Female Chauvinist Pigs”. I found it patronising and it could put people off.

  38. I’m with fireeyedgirl: We Don’t Need Another Wave is fantastic and diverse and awesome. I would also plug She’s Such A Geek: Women Write About Science, Technology and Other Stuff by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders, but that’s because I AM a geek.

  39. I suggest Transforming a Rape Culture. I think there was a new edition recently, so it might by in the 5 year range.

    Don’t forget that you can slip it sideways into other sections of the library — biography, fiction, other kinds of lefty politics, how-to books, etc.

  40. Thank you thank you thank you everyone for all the great suggestions! I really appreciate everyone taking the time to share. Now I have a great list to start looking at – I think it will be some hard decisions, but I’m hopeful that whatever I pick will be good.

    And if anyone is seriously serious about donating some books, send me an email at sstumpf (at) dvplib (dot) org I can find shelf space for more then 4 books if they are free and in good condition 🙂

  42. Are you allowed to buy for other sections? Because you could sneak in people like Audre Lorde, Chrystos, and June Jordan into the poetry section…and there’s all sorts of great fiction – authors like Sapphire, Julia Alvarez, Jewelle Gomez, Octavia Butler…

    Yes and no. That is my insidious long-term goal, but the way we do collection development, I only have the 300’s of the Dewey Decimal Classification System. So if I want to put June Jordan in poetry, I need to talk to whomever is doing 811 (which is the number for poetry). My goal now is to build up the feminist collection all over the 300’s, which is social sciences and has politics, feminism, queer rights, sociology, psychology, colonization, etc. From what I can tell, they have never had an employee that was interested in feminism, particularly third wave and diverse feminism, so if you look at our collection, you would think that feminism was this thing that only occurred in the 60’s and 70’s among white women then just stopped.

    I think that there is an unmet demand for it in my area, but I also have to deal with having a pretty small budget. The books we do have don’t circulate that well, so getting any money for feminist books becomes a circular problem, they don’t want to spend money because they don’t circ and they don’t circ because they are old and limited in scope. I’m hoping that with some judicious promotion, our circulation numbers for this kind of thing will go up and then I can justify asking for more money.

    And in case anyone is interested, we’re a small(ish) public library district in Illinois, two branches serving 3 towns in the Chicago suburbs. Depending on which area, we are 30-5% people of color (mostly black with some hispanic and asian) and 70-95% white.

  44. I went to Powell’s & got some links.
    http://www.powells.com/subsection/GenderStudiesNewArrivals.html

    New arrivals in feminist studies:
    http://www.powells.com/subsection/FeministStudiesNewArrivals.html

    New arrivals in gay & lesbian studies:
    http://www.powells.com/subsection/GayandLesbianStudiesNewArrivals.html

    Specific books:

    The Terror Dream by Susan Faludi
    Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History by Laural Thatcher Ulrich
    The Boundaries of Her Body by Debran Rowland (This is about women under the law, so I don’t know if it would go with the other books on feminism, but it would certainly fit in the 300s.)

  45. um… sarah… I don’t think you know what “insidious” means.

    And, if your library makes it appear as if feminism is only the concern of white women, then Valenti’s book and Female Chauvenist Pigs won’t do much in the way of disabusing your patrons of that notion.

  46. sarah the librarian, north south or west burbs? cos i could pretend to be a patron asking about books on feminism and maybe theyd let you get more since then they saw an interest.

  47. @Sin Verguenza: Wow, way to be helpful.

    1) Insidious has more than one meaning, one of them being “having a gradual and cumulative effect; developing so gradually as to be well-established before becoming apparent”. Seems to fit what she said just fine.

    2) Instead of rudely dismissing other people’s suggestions, how about offering some of your own? And while Valenti’s book (I haven’t read the other) may not be specifically about the troubles facing young WOC, it certainly includes them and absolutely does not discount them. Plus, it’s accessible and enjoyable and would probably appeal to some teenagers in a way that more clinical books wouldn’t. So what’s wrong with that?

  48. I did mean to recommend Colonize This!, but must have accidentally deleted it. (Typing when your arm is in a sling is no fun. 🙁 )

  49. If you’re able to add to the fiction section at all, Margaret Atwood. Handmaid’s Tale is a feminist fiction classic. The Edible Woman is an older book, but takes a look at body image and consumerism.

    Other books I’ve read and loved are already on the list. 🙂

  50. There are some really interesting pro-feminist essays in Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out, edited by Fawzia Afzal-Khan and published in 2005 by Olive Branch Press.

    The authors’ list includes women from all over the world, and the various sections encompass non-fiction, journalism, religious discourse, fiction, poetry, and plays.

  51. I second or third or whatever Jack’s suggestions:
    This Bridge Called Our Backs and This Bridge We Call Home

    Also, anything by Gloria Anzaldua, especially Borderlands/La Frontera

    I came across This Bridge We Call Home a few months ago, and had to take deep breaths as I flipped through it in the store, it had my pulse racing with feminist excitement. It has yet to disappoint, it’s a great anthology with diverse voices and perspectives represented. As a Jewish woman, I also really appreciated having Jewish perspectives on feminism, racism, and the tenuous and complicated positions of Jewish feminists within predominantly white feminist movements. All in all, it’s a great anthology, and I believe falls within your “last 5 years” requirements, if This Bridge Called Our Backs doesn’t.

  52. Hi Jill,

    If it hasn’t been done already, I think someone should compile all the comment suggestions into its own post—it would be an amazing, bookmarkable, handy resource for anyone wanting to read more about feminism (especially where it intersects with racism) and aren’t quite sure where to begin—like me!

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