Deletions of authority records with $v in the CYAC (children's subjects) vocabulary
Deborah Tomaras
[Please feel free to share widely with anyone using CYAC (children’s) subject headings]
Dear colleagues:
We now see exactly how long “There is no requirement for any institution to follow the Library’s practice of not using $v.” has lasted (the assurance at the end of the January 2026 announcement that LC was omitting form subdivisions from all their cataloging as of Feb. 2, 2026). And that is less than a month.
The CYAC (children’s subject headings) vocabulary is now proposing, via their Tentative List 2602y, wholesale deletion of authority records containing form subdivisions (for example, “African Americans $v Fiction”). This is coming despite LC’s assurances in their January 2026 FAQ that “At this time, Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) will continue to maintain the authority records for all form subdivisions. There is no plan to delete these subdivision authority records. … If the Library chooses not to maintain these records, this intent will be communicated with sufficient time for others to ensure access to the information through other means. Authority records that use $v subfields as part of a controlled string will be evaluated in a later stage. PTCP will eventually modify these records to give alternate instructions.” [emphases added]
Note particularly this phrasing in the CYAC deletion proposals: “This authority record has been deleted because --Fiction is no longer a valid CYAC subdivision.” This means CYAC intends ultimately to make “$v Fiction” completely unusable in the vocabulary, for everyone. If these proposals pass, it is unlikely that libraries who catalog using children’s subject headings will be able to continue including $v in new cataloging records, or be able to control such subject strings with $v in OCLC for their own libraries and patrons (because $v Fiction will no longer be a part of the CYAC vocabulary). And it is very likely that children will be impacted in their ability to find things in their school, public, and other library catalogs. This is a reminder that $v omission disproportionately impacts the most vulnerable patrons and libraries.
We strongly suggest that libraries concerned about the deletion of authority records with form subdivisions from the CYAC vocabulary email CYAC at cyac...@loc.gov and register their opposition to these proposals. Note who will be harmed by the authority deletions, and advocate for the retention of authority records for libraries that want to continue using form subdivisions with CYAC headings.
And we ask everyone to consider how long you think LC will maintain authorities with $v in LCSH, given this development. The assurance that other libraries could continue using $v was always unrealistic and infeasible, but now we also see that it is completely untrue. Read the report of the ALA Core SAC Working Group on $v Retention to see exactly why.
Please stand up for form subdivisions in CYAC. Do it to preserve the choice we were promised by LC to continue including form subdivisions within subject strings when it best serves our library communities. Do it because supporting the least resourced among us is the right thing to do. And do it because likely otherwise, LCSH authority deletions will soon follow.
Best,
Deborah Tomaras (Working Group chair)
P.s. Please also consider endorsing the recommendations of the Working Group on $v Retention (you can see complete recommendations in the report)! Standing together is our only hope for convincing LC to reconsider this decision. Here’s the endorsement form again: https://forms.gle/XwmvnfCQ7TkriRky7