The song in the musical Avenue Q, “Everyone’s a Little Bit Racist,” acknowledges a truth that is important, if difficuly, to accept. Racism, at varying levels, is pervasive. The good news is that when we are aware, we can work to eliminate where we have exhibited racist beliefs and keep them from affecting our interactions with others.

While there is evidence of progress, there is still a long way to go. The title of this blog reveals a sad truth. Numerous subject headings in our catalog reveals long held bigoted perspectives. Our cherished Dewey Decimal System is loaded with bias. We need to be aware of what is there and what alternatives we have for dealing with it.

Consider the subject heading, “Westward Expansion.” We think of Lewis and Clark and the opening of the West to exploration and development. Our Indigenous population doesn’t see it that way. This is likely to be true of subject headings concerning the colonial history of many other countries.

The Dewey Decimal System, long the organizing system of school libraries, has a distinct U.S. Christian view of the world. Look at the history of North America (970s). Mexico’s history is all in 971 and Canada’s is 972 leaving from 973 to 979 for the United States.

As another example, the 200s begins with myths followed by the Bible in 220. Christianity and aspects related to it are in 230 to 289. That leaves the 290’s for all other religions, including Greek and Roman religions, Germanic, Indic (such as Zoroastrianism), Judaism, Islam, Bábism, and Bahaï Faith. Not quite equal representation.

Mike Olsen takes an even broader look at the built-in bigotry in his article, Classification as Colonization: The Hidden Politics of Library Catalogs. While in the US, we deal with the current administration’s efforts to eliminate DEI, we have not really embraced it in our catalog. Olsen points to where Dewey “relegates women’s issues to domestic subcategories, while centering the experiences of White Christian men as universal. When ‘women’s health’ becomes a minor subdivision and ‘health’ means men’s health by default, classification performs exactly as its creator intended: marginalizing some voices while naturalizing others.”

Some headings have changed over the years. For example, Homosexuality is no longer categorized under “Social Problems.” But the fact remains, the catalog and the classification system has built-in racism and bigotry. If this can be changed, other changes can be made as well. We can also consider eliminating the Dewey Decimal system. Genrefication (which makes the library organization more like what you’d find in a bookstore) is one option being embraced.

The good news is that progress has been made against racism, but there is still much to be done. Being aware of the issue makes it incumbent on finding solutions. Added to this, we should take a stand so that our library associations work on changing headings that are contrary to making the library a space that welcomes all. As leaders, we must always be looking for ways to learn more and do better.