Odd girl in: expanding lesbian fiction holdings at Barnard College

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a case study of a specialty collection implementation: lesbian fiction, in the Barnard College Library.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a multistep approach to implement the development of a lesbian fiction collection. First, a collection profile was created to assess the current state of collection, and then a checklist was developed to serve as a collection development tool.FindingsThe collection profile provides important information for the collection development process. Consistent subject heading access control is essential for collection assessment and maintenance.Practical implicationsThe collection proposal and the suggestions drawn by the study were adopted by Barnard Library for collection development and maintenance. The methodology applied and the resources consulted in the study can serve as references for academic librarians with similar collection development goals.Originality/valueVery few studies have been done to discuss issues related to the collection development of GLBT themed fiction, particularly lesbian fiction in an academic library. This paper provides a concrete example of how Barnard Library carried out the selection of lesbian novels.