I was recently involved in a reader’s advisory workshop in which discussion of popular genre fiction came up. Presenters offered synopses of different genres for participants who might not know a great deal about them, and as I listened to the descriptions I was struck again by something which has for a long time bothered me: the stigmas that surround certain types of genre fiction.

In both my undergraduate experience as a creative writing major, and my graduate experience as a librarian, I have become very aware of the way in which popular genre fiction, in particular romance fiction, and what might be termed “pulp” science fiction and fantasy, are regarded as being lesser genres, read only by individuals who are less educated and enlightened than those who read literary fiction and non-fiction. As both an individual and a librarian this frustrates me greatly, because it means that patrons end up feeling discouraged and judged when their reading interests are treated as lesser or as somehow being shameful.

I have had a personal Goodreads account for quite some time, but I’ve never been extremely active on it, certainly not to the extent that some of my friends are. I’ve recently begun paying more attention to my account though, and have begun trying to log all of the books that I’m reading. However, in doing so, I’ve come to an interesting realization: in the past I have self-censored the books that I added, because of my awareness of social stigmas surrounding popular genre fiction, and my desire to avoid being judged by my friends and colleagues who I am friends with on Goodreads.

Given that one of the long-lasting mandates of public libraries has been user privacy, and the user’s right to read without having anyone track their reading habits or preferences, I think that the growth of social reading sites like Goodreads raises interesting questions for librarians and also for individual users.

If users are self-publishing their reading habits and interests, what happens to their privacy and their right to read without judgement or repercussions? Will the growth of social reading sites like Goodreads help to eradicate some of the stigmas surrounding popular genre fiction or reinforce them? Will users continue to/or begin to self-censor in order to avoid stigmas? Will users need to create anonymous or private profiles if they want to honestly track the books they read? Should users even be worried about someone else tracking their reading?

Finally, how could librarians use social reading sites like Goodreads to identify and counteract some of the stigmas surrounding genre fiction?