Distribución de Planta Actual de la Biblioteca Central de la URP

Over half of the considered books for the annotated bibliography were eliminated for various reasons in the composition of this resource. In total, the resulting annotated bibliography included forty-three of the one hundred books consulted. The reasons sources were or were not selected varied widely.

Justifications for not selecting sources included some format, publication or recognition issues – specifically including:

 No positive or no reviews at all from selection aids typically utilized by public libraries

 Publication by self-publication  Only eBook format

 Difficult-to-obtain foreign or independent publishing

On the basis of these criteria, twelve books were eliminated from consideration without further consultation. There are inherent issues with selecting resources with any of the above-listed problems. For example, one review from a Goodreads user, “Tina,” stated, “I had a tough time enjoying the story due to all of the typos … throughout the entire book” (“Memoirs of a Soldier’s Wife Book Review,” 2011). Quality can neither be assured nor confirmed if no book reviews exist and the book is a self-published title. Thus, public libraries cannot easily justify acquiring such resources.

Once titles successfully made it through the first set of eliminations, the

inclusion. If inclusion was based solely on plot summaries available through reviewing resources and selection aids, the end product would be deeply flawed. For example, Love Virtually by Daniel Glauttauer (2011) was classified in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library online catalog with the subject heading “Long-distance relationships -- Fiction.” However, in reading Glauttauer’s work, it becomes apparent that the only aspect of the characters’ relationship that is long distance is that they communicate via email. They do so because they are having an affair, and Emmi (the female character) is cheating on her husband. Since the focus of the book is on an affair, an unhealthy and negative way of dealing with a difficult, failing marriage, it could not be included. Other exclusion decisions were more difficult, particularly in cases where the ending of the novel provided the sole justification. For instance, Collateral by Ellen Hopkins was unique. The sentiments expressed through the poetry in which Hopkins relates the story bring to light difficulties with living apart, reservations about military life and anxieties

surrounding deployment. Unfortunately, the end of the novel does not embody positive emotions or a healthy way of dealing with difficulty as the young Marine becomes violent with his fiancée, dealing with his anger in a deeply negative manner. Although some of the stories reflected accurately the pain of separation, the struggle of war and the heartache of long-distance relationships, at least twenty of the novels embodied negative response to these hardships.

Novels included in the bibliography embodied positive responses to difficult situations, but the situations in which characters manifested varied widely in order to provide variety in terms of genre reading interests, character traits and reading level. For example, one included novel was My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares which includes

themes of reincarnation and timeless love; it is science fiction epic romance with settings ranging from ransacking in ancient Asia Minor to British hospitals in World War I. By contrast, Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella’s memoir Meet Me at Emotional

Baggage Claim is full of short, humorous vignettes about which there is nothing epic. By including such a wide range of topics and genres, the variety of kinds of books can be as wide as the variety of people who find themselves as military spouses.

Summary

The aim of this research was to create an annotated bibliography of fiction and narrative non-fiction paralleling the emotional journey and situations faced by U.S. military spouses. The bibliography could be a tool for military-community-centered public libraries to identify titles for acquisition to improve collection development for this target audience. Further, it offers a potential reading list for personal recommendation or use in a book club setting in order to improve overall readers’ advisory services in

libraries.

A content analysis of military spouse blogs revealed underlying emotional stresses for this specific audience. Then, the principles and goals of bibliotherapy were employed to identify critical themes for this discrete population on which to base a working book list of one hundred titles. This list of sources embodied a variety of reading levels, formats, genres and central characters, seeking appeal to a breadth of potential readers and reflecting the diversity of military spouses themselves. This working list was evaluated in terms of theme and potential therapeutic benefit, as well as taking into consideration recommendations, awards, availability and uniqueness of the source. The final bibliography includes forty-three books, categorized by genre.

This source does not meet the needs of all military family members, and it excludes any practical guides or self-help books used in more traditional, formal

personal catharsis in the face of military stressors such as deployments. It also has potential benefit for public libraries in military-centric communities who are looking to meet the readers’ advisory needs of their patrons.