The activity summary of the SAC project group proposing changes to LC classification for Holocaust denial literature (Pete Wilson, Rocki Strader, Allison Bailund and me) wasn't long enough to justify an actual report, so I'm just going to stick it here for informational and discussion purposes ahead of SAC's January meeting. ;] Feel free to ask for any clarifications or further information, if something below isn't clear. Thanks!
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In response to a letter from the World Jewish Congress to ALA, members of SAC formed a project group to propose changes to the classification of Holocaust denial literature and Holodomor denial literature in the Library of Congress classification system. The project group submitted a classification change proposal for Holocaust denial literature (from D804.35 to D804.8) which was scheduled to the September 2023 Tentative List (list 2309); this change would have moved Holocaust denial literature to the end of the Holocaust classification range, separating denialist works more obviously (particularly on physical library shelves) from works of legitimate historical scholarship about the Holocaust. The group also corresponded with Heidy Berthoud at the Library of Congress regarding the classification change for Holodomor denial literature, since Heidy was coordinating a project to revise the Ukraine classification schedule. The group recommended changing the Holodomor denial classification of DK508.8378.H65 (used for both criticism of denialism and denialist works themselves) to only describe works critiquing Holodomor denialism, and moving actual Holodomor denialist literature to the end of the Holodomor range at DK508.8379.
In the revised Ukraine classification issued by the Library of Congress in October 2023, Holodomor denial literature was moved to the end of the Holodomor classification range, at DK5357.5. Works critiquing Holodomor denialism were given a new/separate classification number of DK5357. These changes, while not totally in keeping with SAC's suggestions, still moved denialist literature to the end of the range, away from actual histories of the Holodomor. Unfortunately, the Library of Congress rejected the proposal to change the classification for Holocaust denial literature, leaving it at D804.35, in the middle of the Holocaust classification range.
During the discussion at the September 2023 editorial meeting, a few possible future avenues for exploration were suggested. One option was for SAC to work up a classification proposal for "denialism" writ large (either historical denialisms only, or various types of denialism). The drawback of this approach would be that it would separate denialist literatures from their historical and comparative contexts; indeed, LC expressed skepticism about that approach, as it might run counter to the desires of historical researchers. If SAC wanted to pursue this angle, the group working on the proposal would need to consider how the "denialism" classification range would be organized (i.e., by historical period, type of denialism, etc.).
Another possible future avenue for SAC would be proposing more subject headings of the "denialism" type-either purely historical, or also including social denialisms (AIDS, COVID, climate change, etc.). This would likely be an offshoot of the original project, however, and not a continuation, as the project was classification-based.
Any further work on either option would be out of scope for the group that worked on the Holocaust and Holodomor issues, and we request for that group to be discharged.
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Best,
Deborah T.