iCurate® inClusive Frequently Asked Questions

Purchases  |  Diversity Categories & Reporting  |  Lists

Purchases

How much does iCurate inClusive cost?

The one-time fee for an iCurate inClusive one-time suite of reports and lists is $1,500 per age range (Adult, Teen, or Children’s) or $4,200 to bundle all three.

How will I be billed for my purchase?

When your library purchases inClusive, you will be invoiced around the next first of the month.

What if I have more than one branch?

The reporting and marked lists are based on one set of holdings that you submit. You may submit your system holdings, and the reporting will be based on that. If you float collections or have central purchasing, this is very likely what you will want to do. For library systems who want separate reports by branch, we have tiered discounting: 2-39 branches with separate holdings = $3,990/branch (5% discount), and 40+ branches with separate holdings = $3,780/branch (10% discount). To get the discount, branches must be ordered and paid for at the same time.

How do I purchase iCurate inClusive?

To purchase, email iCurate@ingramcontent.com stating which age ranges you want to purchase (Adult, Children’s, Teen, or All Ages). You will receive a confirmation email that includes instructions for submitting holdings and other key information.

How do I cancel iCurate inClusive?

You can cancel your purchase at any time before we begin any work on the project. If we do not have your holdings in our system, you can cancel any time before submitting the holdings. If we do have your holdings via a z39.50 connection already, you will need to cancel within an hour of your purchase email.

If I only purchased one or two age ranges, can I add more later?

Yes, but the reporting will not be concatenated, and you will not receive the bundled pricing. For example, customers who purchase All Ages at one time will receive some reporting for overall and then split into age ranges. If a customer purchases Teen and gets reporting and then later purchases Adult and Children’s, the first set of reports will include Teen only, and the second set of lists will not include Teen, even in the overall reporting. In addition, some holdings may be missed in the reporting and marked lists if Ingram considers a title Teen and the library considers it Adult or Children’s and vice-versa. It will also cost the full $1,500 per age group to purchase them in different transactions.

How soon will I receive the reports and lists?

iCurate inClusive lists are delivered within two weeks of when you submit your holdings to us. If you want to pay now and get the work later, simply let us know in your purchase email (in case we have your holdings via z39.50). The project must be used within 12 months of purchase. To ensure the most accurate reporting, please do not submit holdings until you are ready to receive the reports and lists within two weeks.

How will I receive my reports and lists?

Reports and lists will be delivered to the same email address that you used to purchase iCurate inClusive, unless you give us a different email to use.

Is iCurate inClusive good for schools?

The iCurate inClusive for Schools service was created for schools.

Can I see sample reports and/or a sample list?

Yes! We know that many libraries will request samples to help make this decision. Our ILS Sales reps have access to a sample reporting suite based on a fictional library and a very abbreviated sample list that they can share via email. To ensure that we have time to meet all our deadlines and because of the just-in-time nature of these lists, we cannot create specific custom samples upon request.

Diversity Categories & Reporting

What categories are included as “diverse”?

Asian Interest, Black Interest, Indigenous Interest, Jewish Interest, Latine Interest, LGBTQIA+ Interest, Mental Health (includes Addiction), Middle Eastern Interest, Multicultural, Muslim Interest, and Neuro & Physical Diversity.

How do you define “diverse”?

Diversity Categories are largely based on interest and content rather than author identification, which is not always readily available, accurate, or discernable. If an author is well-known as being identified with a specific diverse category (David Sedaris, Amy Tan, Maya Angelou, Temple Grandin), they will also be included.

Does Ingram rely only on BISAC or LC Subject Categories in the publisher or MARC data to identify titles as diverse?

No, Ingram maintains a proprietary database, hand-curated by the Collection Development Librarians, that has additional (locally defined) fields and value-added information.  This database that has been updated over many years allows this type of service to be offered at a reasonable cost.

What if a book features an LGBTQIA+ character who has a brain injury?

In this example, the book would be counted in LGBTQIA+ and in the Neuro & Physical Diversity categories. If the book appears in the recommended list of diverse titles, it will have both relevant diversity category columns marked.

Why doesn’t Ingram include a category for Christian Interest, like Jewish or Muslim Interest?

The Jewish and Muslim Interest titles focus on the cultural aspects rather than religious. In the US, Christianity is not an underrepresented or marginalized culture. For customers who need help selecting titles in this area, we have an Inspirational Fiction Standing Order Program, and a large percentage of the 200s in the Forthcoming Popular Nonfiction Program fall into this category.

Can the categories be customized or more specific?

To maintain our ability to keep the cost at an affordable rate and to meet all our deadlines while continuing to add this value-added information to our databases, we are not able to deviate from the templates we have created, and we likely do not have more specific metadata in our application. If you want to discuss pricing for customization, we are happy to meet with you to see what is possible.

How granular is the reporting of my collection?

In addition to the 60+ charts covering either the overall collection, each age grouping (Adult, Children’s, or Teen), and each subject (24 if All Ages purchased), you will receive a spreadsheet that shows the number of titles in each diversity category in each subject that your library contains. Current technology does not provide a secure enough way to share our proprietary, hand-curated data for that many titles on an EAN level.

Why isn’t there reporting about publication years?

Our metadata shows the publication date of specific EANs, and original publication date is not a readily available field from publishers. Although it would not be difficult for us to create reporting claiming to show this information, it would be a skewed picture, and misleading information is often worse than no information. Most integrated library systems likely have more accurate reporting on original publication dates, depending on the level of cataloging.

What about titles that show groups of people in a negative light?

We take care to watch for stereotypes, tropes, and dubious viewpoints when we are marking diverse titles. We do not count these titles as diverse in our reporting and never include these titles on any custom diverse title lists that we do.

Can you provide some examples of books that would be included or not and why they qualify based on title or type of book?

  • A book written by an author who identifies as Christian who wrote an Inspirational title that takes place during the Holocaust in Germany would not be marked Jewish Interest because it is a Christian viewpoint, not Jewish.
  • A travel book written about visiting Dubai would not be marked Middle Eastern Interest, again because the viewpoint is not Middle Eastern.
  • A travel book written for LGBTQIA travels would be marked LGBTQIA.
  • To Kill a Mockingbird is not marked Black Interest because it is written from a white perspective.
  • American Dirt is not marked Multicultural or Latine interest because it has been so controversial for stereotyping.  
  • All James Patterson books with Alex Cross as the protagonist are marked Black Interest.

This is an art and not a strict science, and we err on being more than less cautious if a book is considered of dubious distinction.

For the reporting that compares my library to a typical library, what is that based on?

Ingram has library customers of all sizes across the country that have purchased iCurate inClusive and submitted their holdings to us. We have removed any schools or universities and then averaged the inClusiveresults in each category and subject to come up with the “average public library” number.

My collection is old, so are you doing anything to make the author/title match better for titles that are out of print?

At the beginning of this project, we ingested all the holdings of some of the largest library systems in the US. Our Collection Development librarians and managers have been working overtime to get value-added information added to those tens of thousands of titles so they will show up in our reports and will show as held if the author/title matches a more current edition in our lists.

If I have a local collection of titles without EANs or ISBNs that fit into a type of diversity category (oftentimes this is a local history collection based on a Black community), will they be identified when I send in my holdings?

If a title doesn’t have an EAN, ISBN, or UPC, it cannot be submitted as a holding because that’s the primary key for the database, so it will not be counted as a holding at all. If we don’t have an EAN in our system because it has been out of print a long time or is very local, it will not count as diverse OR as un-diverse, so it will not have a large impact on percentages—it doesn’t count for or against your collection. If this is the case, you may want to modify the presentation we provide for you to include details about your special collection to showcase a valuable local collection that is uniquely yours.

Lists

Which lists does inClusive deliver for Adult?

The Adult inClusive program includes lists for Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction 000s, Adult Nonfiction 100s, Adult Nonfiction 200s, Adult Nonfiction 300s, Adult Nonfiction 400s, Adult Nonfiction 500s, Adult Nonfiction 600s, Adult Nonfiction 700s, Adult Nonfiction 800s, Adult Nonfiction 900s, Adult Nonfiction Biographies, and Adult Graphic Novels.

Which lists does inClusive deliver for Children?

The Children’s inClusive Program includes lists for Board Books, Picture Books, Easy Reader Fiction, Easy Reader Nonfiction, Juvenile Fiction, Juvenile Graphic Novel, Easy Nonfiction, and Juvenile Nonfiction.

Which lists does inClusive deliver for Teen?

The Teen inClusive Program includes lists for Teen Fiction, Teen Nonfiction, and Teen Graphic Novels.

Which bindings do the lists include?

inClusive lists include whichever format is selling into public libraries the most.

Can you divide my lists in a different way or provide a specific binding rank?

The lists sent as part of inClusive are based on the typical library’s needs, and neither the lists included nor the binding preference can be changed. If your library has different needs, our Collection Development team will be happy to discuss them with you and provide a price quote for more customized lists.

How far prepublication are titles included on the lists?

inClusive lists are selected based on popularity and may include titles up to three months prepublication if they have unusually high advance sales.

Will I see the same title on different lists?

No, although you may see that a single title has multiple diversity categories marked. Our titles are divided into specific ages and subjects with no crossover, so you would never receive a title in both Teen Fiction and Juvenile Fiction, for example, even if the title falls in between the two age ranges. Along the same lines, if you own a title in adult that we consider teen, and you only order the Adult iCurate inClusive, our reporting will not recognize that title. It will not count as a not-diverse title; it will simply be tossed out.

Are there price or discount parameters for the lists?

We want to be able to send you the best and most popular titles in each category, so there are no price or discount limits on titles that are suggested on inClusive. Most titles on the lists will be have a standard discount and a retail price of less than $50, but we will occasionally include more expensive titles if they are popular in public libraries.

Why aren’t all the titles on my list reviewed?

While review coverage is an important consideration when our librarians select titles, it is not the primary factor. Review journal coverage is often imbalanced, including a higher percentage of low-circulating subjects like poetry while skipping some very popular, high-circulating categories, genres, and series.  We also don’t want to exclude new titles that are already very popular simply because they may not have a review yet.

Why don’t I have the same number of each diversity category in each list?

Some categories are more popular than others in both libraries and the publishing industry. Many more Black Interest titles than Indigenous Interest titles are published each year, for example. Some categories, such as Picture Books, allow for more diversity than other categories, such as Adult Nonfiction 500s.

How are these lists created?

Selections are based on popularity within public libraries combined with the diversity categories that we enter into our proprietary database every day.

What about Reference titles?

Each library handles their Reference collection a little bit differently. Because we build the inClusive lists to meet most libraries’ needs, we include titles that might be used as Reference within the appropriate Adult Nonfiction list if they are popular enough and leave those decisions to each library.

Some graphic novels and/or manga can be a bit mature for my teens. Will I receive mature titles in the Teen Graphic Novels list?

We know that the line between Teen and Adult can vary based on each community's standards. We select titles for inClusive lists based on most public libraries' needs and tend to put more mature themes into Adult rather than Teen. inClusive lists are a starting point, and your librarians make the final decision about where to put those titles based on your library’s needs.

Will I receive novelty board books?

We are very conscientious about what a public library wants and needs, and we make sure that the items we select for the lists will be a fit for most public libraries. Some board books will have a lift-the-flap or slide elements if we believe they will be sturdy enough for public library use.

What is the difference between Easy Reader Nonfiction and Easy Nonfiction?

Easy Reader Nonfiction books are leveled readers, whereas Easy Nonfiction books are typically in the picture book format.