Urban Fiction/Street Literature....The Debate Continues

    Yesterday I was informed that there was an interesting discussion about Urban Fiction/Street Literature on the YALSA listserv. After reading the posts and sleeping on it, I decided to put in my two cents.

  I've been using and advocating the use of the genre of Urban Fiction/Street Literature for over 10 years with allot of successes. I pride myself on having a healthy mix of teen friendly and adult Street Lit. books for my teen readers. Regardless of how one may feel about this genre, it's here to stay. 

My student Rebekah describes what Street Lit. means to her and her classmates who live in the Bronzeville neighborhood in Chicago.

My Final Thoughts About Urban Fiction/Street Lit.

1. All stories have VALUE, regardless of the lens/perspective it's told from.

2. Who are any of us (librarians/libraries) to say Urban Fiction is not a genre?

3. Urban Fiction is a genre and Street Literature is a sub-genre of Urban Fiction, both should be respected as such.

4. Urban Fiction is a genre that should be in all library collections for teens and adults. As should other books about various subjects and cultures.

5. To make excuses (I've heard many of them) not to include them is just plain sad and a disservice to your patrons.

6. Urban Fiction is a genre that should not be ignored by librarians. This genre has served as a catalyst to jump start reluctant readers to read more frequently.

7. Urban Fiction has provided a pipeline for readers to learn/understand communities unlike their

own.

8. From my personal experience, many critics of Urban Fiction have not bothered to either read not just one book, but a body of work representing various authors and reading levels.

9. Many critics of Urban Fiction just don't understand it. Just think about it: What happens when we don't understand something....We reject it.

10. Many librarians have Young Adult Urban Fiction and Street Literature books within their collections, and are unaware of their genre classification.

 If you would like to read more on this subject of Urban Fiction/Street Literature you can read my blog post on my other blog, MissDomino.BlogSpot: 

"Street Lit. Writers Must Be Heard"
  http://missdomino.blogspot.com/2014/08/street-lit-writers-must-be-heard.html 

Another post that should be read is Amy Koester's blog post,
"Selection is Privilege"
http://showmelibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/02/selection-is-privilege.html