Diverse Authors in Schewe Library: Serenity Vasquez ('25)

"Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality" —Lewis Carroll

Who am I?
Hello! Thank you for making your way to my corner in the Libguides. My name is Serenity and I participated in deselecting books from our shelves to make way for new ones (in Fall 2024) in the literature section. 

What did I do?
I took down unread books and actively engaged in discussions with McKenna Jacquemet about the importance of audits, book banning, how they affect our libraries, and how to introduce our libraries to more diverse reads.

Things that I learned because of the experience: 
As libraries and our communities continue to expand and grow so do our ways of interacting with books. While the oldies will hold a special place on our (heart) shelves, it is good to expand with different genres. As you can see from the other two, wonderful, past researchers (Ava Maria and Claire ) there is a hierarchy of cis-white heteronormative people who overtake our shelves; however, in our society, there have been great lengths by social activists, educators, and librarians to break free from these constraining canon works and mold the world with different perspectives. 

Going through the literature section (800s), I rediscovered fabulous works that I was shocked to see unread (like letters from Jane Auston). Some books hadn’t ever been checked out and some had only been checked out once in their entire existence. When libraries weed through their books, I learned it doesn’t mean that they are doomed to the trash yard but are given a chance at new life instead. When one thing isn’t given a chance to prosper or be used in one place, going somewhere else may give it life.