At the headquarters of national bookstore chains, there are smart, well-compensated people who spend all day thinking about where to situate books in their stores. Should science fiction be shelved in the science section? Should barbecue cookbooks be shelved in the nature section next to field guides for mammals and large flightless birds? Such decisions can be extremely important to how shoppers shop, and also important to how the shoppers view the content of the books they purchase. Nowhere else are these considerations more important than for books on science and religion. Science books are shelved in the Science section, and religion books are shelved in a Religion section that is typically (but oddly) distinct from the Fiction, Fantasy, and Mythology sections.

It is altogether a different story with children's books at the Borders franchise in Springfield, Pennsylvania. In the United States, it probably comes as no surprise that there is a huge market in religious books that target babies, toddlers, and early readers. Borders has hundreds of these books. If you haven't examined any recently, here are 10 samples. All the books stick to message: God created the Universe, the Earth, all species, and humans...and it's all true. At the Borders Books and Music in Springfield (Pennsylvania), these anti-science books for children are shelved in the Science section, right along with volumes on dinosaurs and the causes of weather, all framed by an astronomy-themed carpet. Here's a photograph, with a first-grader shown for scale.

Of course, Borders stores are not taxpayer-funded, and there is certainly no law against selling books that are anti-science, factually incorrect, or just plain bad. And there is no law against private companies arranging their books in a way that explicity undermines the value of a scientific view of science and reality. It's just sad that kids browsing through the stacks are receiving a clear message that religion is a good and reputable source of information on the origins of the universe, the diversity of life, etc. This is the equivalent of Borders shelving hundreds of books (in the children's section) by "Holocaust deniers" amid valid World War II history books. Both Creationism and Holocaust denial are fictions that portray history (of life and of a recent war, respectively) according to the faith and agenda of the authors rather than to what actually took place. And both are highly offensive to large groups of people (e.g., non-christians, non-Nazis). Because they are both soundly fictional, they should be shelved in Fiction.

With at least one Borders in every major town in the country, the cumulative effect of filing creationism under Science would be substantial, contributing to American's overwhelming belief in supernatural explanations of life. Therefore, I highly recommend patronizing bookstores that do not choose to showcase religion as a science. For example, my local Barnes & Noble doesn't put the religious books in with the science books (see photograph), although the children's christian literature is disturbingly close to the children's Nonfiction section. If you are the type who likes to make a scene, you always have the option of complaining to your local Borders manager. If you want to be subtle and non-confrontational, suggest to the children's book czar or czarina that the store keep a standing supply of Jay Hosler's The Sandwalk Adventures (ISBN info). And if you happen to know the person at Borders who is responsible for arranging books, buy him or her a nice dinner and gently explain the damage shelving schemes can cause.

But if you're just plain subversive and you have access to the store after hours, discreetly move all of the Creationist books out of the "Children's Science" section and into "Children's Fiction." If you're subversive but don't work at a bookstore, you could still transfer a few copies of The Da Vinci Code to a prominent position in your local bookstore's "Religion" section. It will make you feel better. Trust me.

Contact information
Colin Purrington
610-328-8621 (office)