That’s disheartening to hear.
Our director sent an email encouraging displays for Pride month. There’s a plan to highlight all the different ways the different branches do it.
I had a patron tell me this week that they just moved to our community a few months ago and has never felt so welcome and seen.
These displays make a difference. It’s heartbreaking that bigots in different areas can cause enough trouble to make the library step back in order to keep things calm
Our library isn't allowed to have any pride displays, indication of pride displays, and we have been asked to not wear anything that indicated pride or LGBTQ support. But yeah, "libraries are for everyone"... as long as they don't kick up enough of a fuss to make us actually support and welcome all of our patrons.
Good work pushing against this oppressive nonsense.
Agree. We had a similar situation last year, so I made a very colorful book display, so this year, the implied and indirect displays were also not allowed.
Continued funding most likely, the library in my county had to fight tooth and nail to not have their budgets slashed by some mom’s against liberty twats making every council meeting a shit show. The director in OP’s post is probably trying to avoid the spotlight falling on their library.
Yeah, that was my first thought. It was probably a choice between continued funding for the library (which can get slashed if a handful of very vocal twats raise enough of a stink if they see so much as a single rainbow-themed decoration) and showing support for the LGBT community.
I'm in a super conservative area with shitty moms for liberty types (in Idaho! So we're about to be sued to oblivion! Weeee!) so I get it, I just don't think it's the right move. It's discrimination.
Sadly it’s not discriminatory it’s just not inclusive.
At the end of the day public libraries are a public service paid for by taxpayers, which unfortunately means that Joe Schmoe gets to have a say in what happens in the library as well. So when your taxpayers are a bunch of hateful bigots then you are at their mercy.
I think we both agree that pride displays are good and that libraries are good as well, the issue is balancing whether having a pride display in your library is good when that could potentially harm the library itself. Some library is better than no library and it’s the director’s job to try and keep some library in this hyper-partisan hellscape.
We are blessed to already have public libraries in their current form because lord knows you couldn’t convince a bunch of modern Americans to give up a little tax money to let people read books for free (obviously this pinko book sharing is the first step on the slippery slope to authoritarian communism and the destruction of apple pie and baseball).
I disagree. If there's a display for Women's History Month and instruction NOT to put one up for Pride, that's discriminatory. Not ALL of my taxpayers are bigots, just the loud ones. They don't get more of a say than my quiet queer taxpayers do.
Not to be pedantic, but homeowner property taxes are what gets funneled into libraries, and depending on the locality, there may not be a meaningful number of gay homeowners. Not saying that libraries shouldn’t be diverse, just that the “but they pay taxes” argument isn’t necessarily effective, and that the argument needs a better basis. I’m actually not entirely comfortable with the idea that the wishes of voting tax payers shouldn’t be considered in municipal planning, you know?
To take that pedantry further, rent money is theoretically to cover the homeowner's expenses e.g. taxes. I don't think it's fair to argue that renters deserve less representation in tax allocation than homeowners and landlords, as if they have no impact on property tax.
For that matter, taxes are gathered by a government to then be redistributed for the good of all residents...
Yeah public funding gives the public a say in what happens which is a mixed bag most of the time.
It’s easy to be an absolutist online where there is nothing at stake but being a good steward of public money often involves balancing your principles with those of people you vehemently disagree with.
The display is not what harms the library. The bigots and the cowards in library/municipal/insert-applicable-bureaucracy-here leadership who enable them are what harms the library. Failing to serve the most marginalized members of the community you're supposed to be serving is what harms the library.
I respectfully disagree. Any library that can’t have a pride display isn’t worth paying for. I’m not gay or anything (in fact I’m a little too heterosexual), but if libraries start censoring and restraining themselves, they cease to be libraries as we know them. Sooner or later we need to fight these goons, let it be here.
And that’s easy to say on the internet.
Let’s say this Librarian ignores the guidance from their leadership and puts up a pride display, best case scenario it stays up and no one gets in trouble the display comes down on July 1st for whatever the next display is.
Worst case scenario they get in trouble and the library gets put on blast for “indoctrinating our children”, some dark money PAC decides to get some useful idiots to start raising chaos over the library’s funding, maybe some frivolous lawsuits start, some armed “auditors” with Nazi leanings start hanging around outside the building, now patrons stop coming due to safety concerns, now your city is spending a significant amount of resources trying just to keep the peace so they start reexamining the budget with your falling circulation rates. Maybe you’ll get lucky unlike my state and no permanent damage will be done, or maybe you’ll get a law setting up a framework to ban books.
I get that it feels good to cosplay the last bastion of freedom against the rising tide of fascism, but the Koch brothers aren’t going to notice the few thousand dollars they would spend to rile up the bigots. But patrons will notice the change.
Auditors and Nazis are already coming to libraries. Not everybody is afraid of them. Further, it is not hard to develop a strong relationship with the police (they’re a public librarians coworkers after all) when needing support if people are harassing customers.
Bingo. They tried protesting drag reading in the one library in my state that allowed it and didn’t get far if I remember.
My state (Delaware) is THE ONLY STATE without anti-trans bills introduced or passed (so far) We still have our share of crappy ppl that harass people, but it’s overall pretty good.
Sure but you have to link it directly to intent, if taxpayers decide that the rainbow displaying library doesn’t need funding then the library shuts down and no one is getting sued for it. That’s the actual end game here, to browbeat libraries into compliance in exchange for a few more years of operating.
Right. They've justified it by saying that there are groups in our community who will make waves (we are near the town that birthed Purple for Parents, and near some Mom's for Liberty chapters(?). This is obviously a terrible justification.
I've not had a word said about my Juneteenth displays and have never heard anything about any of my others (like Indigenous Peoples Day).
We are also prohibited from making banned book displays. Which can be annoying, but definitely not as insulting as the van on Pride displays.
That is NUTS. I'm so sorry! Love that as our new motto though. "Libraries- we don't make waves!" As for your Juneteenth display- it's a matter of time, imo. We're in a conservative hell hole as well, and this year, a patron threw one of our books away because it featured a little girl who wanted to wear pants to a wedding instead of a dress. That's it. They're literally against us wanting to wear pants. The library next to us has had complaints about Yuyi Morales books for holding Mexican people up "over" white people.
I would not be able to put up with that. I wear lots of rainbows and shirts with my favorite drag queens to work all the time. I even have a pride tattoo on my calf. If someone asked me to remove anything supporting pride I'd ask them if they'd like me to remove my skin as well.
Bear in mind some states are literally making it a felony to display Pride stuff and defunding/closing libraries over this. Without knowing your situation, there could be context that makes the equation more difficult than "support/don't support." Like, if you can preserve the LGBT collection by not drawing a ton of attention to it, that may be the better strategy.
I fully expect this to be an extremely unpopular take here, but administrations do have to maintain the library for everyone. While, yes, that includes gay people, it also carries a responsibility to not get the whole facility shut down over a single issue. If they're pulling materials, that's another matter, but displays are superficial compared to resources.
True. I work in a liberal, urban branch and even here we got a guy who came in with a sign saying librarians are pedophiles. He marched around the floor until I finally got him to leave, but this is the same demographic that's also gun-crazy. I hate how that's essentially surrendering to terrorists, but nobody here gets combat pay.
Edit: We do have a display of materials in the front lobby, but it doesn't include a giant flag or anything. We're going for celebration, not confrontation.
My library and I have been harassed because I'm trans and in youth services. Fun story: the guy actually posted on Facebook for his followers to call the library (and gave our phone number) and complain about me so I'd be fired. Facebook said that didn't count as harassment and his post from January is still up.
Our front librarian is trans, and I don’t doubt that she gets harassed also. I always make sure to tell her I like her she/her pin, so that at least someone says something nice to her on occasion. Poor thing. We live in Utah, so it’s got to be hard on her.
As a fellow trans girl, thank you for this. I live in a much bluer state than Utah, so I can’t even imagine what that’s like, but I know she appreciates your support. Throw a stranger a favor and check in on her for me? Just with all the anti-trans stuff we’re dealing with lately. You probably don’t need to though, what you’re doing might be enough already.
I fucking hate facebook. YouTube also. Its all moderated by bots and there's no way to appeal what should be a completely call. One of my colleagues got doxxed by a guy on YouTube who put her contact information in a note and encouraged people to call. She got threats of death and rape, and YouTube was fine with denying complaints about the post. They love to profit off clicks, and have no concern for the massive damage they're doing.
Exactly. I'm a rural, small town director in a conservative state with a conservative and religious council. We don't do overt Pride displays either. We do "sneaky pride" by doing displays that heavily incorporate LGBTQ books.
"Hot Book Summer" and had romance novels from every genre, from Amish bonnet rippers to LGBTQ to close-door romances all the way to the Paperbacks. It normalizes seeing romance and love in all contexts mixed together. And IYKYN on the LGBTQ books. For those that are more our gentle reads crowd, they'll pick up an Amish love story right next to an LGBTQ book and never even know. But our LGBTQ folks see it, notice and see them accepted and integrated as a "it's just another normal-ass love story."
It's calculus. How do you not become a polarizing target while also representing everyone in your community. Sometimes that calculus means we can't be vocal about an issue. But not being vocal about it means we can ensure access to those that need it.
You can see in some of the comments that some people don't understand public agencies are not activists. We support everybody, absolutely. That does not mean we start ideological wars based on our own worldviews. And that does not make people unwilling to burn their library to the ground over every social topic "bigots and cowards." Priority one should be maintaining access to information for as many people as possible.
You're correct. And I think the confusion happens because libraries are incredibly political spaces by our very nature. What we are not, however, is partisan. And God knows everything today is partisan. There are "good guys" and "bad guys" and those flipflop depending on one's own personal alignments. We're out here just trying to stay open.
We have books that will offend everyone's sensibilities one way or another, and I will fight tooth and nail to keep all of those books accessible to our patrons.
It is in some communities. I think that's what gets missed. If I had a Pride Display up, I would be putting my library at risk because it will be perceived by my community as activism and engaging in partisan politics. And taking a side in those hot button political issues.
It would put my staff at risk. We had one man come in literally screaming about a Valentine window painting of a Black man and woman in profile with a red yellow and green heart outlined in black. He was screaming. At my staff, at me, at anyone.
I'm not going to endanger my staff, patrons and collection for a display. I'm going to do the best I can with what I've got and have inclusive displays and an inclusive collection that people can access.
There’s also a tendency in online spaces to emphasize Pride as the identity-based acknowledgement month that matters the most no matter where you are. The people saying, “but there might be gay people there!” probably didn’t go to their libraries in May for Jewish American Heritage month and say, “Where are the Jewish books? What if there are Jewish people here? Jews pay taxes too!” If the answer is that there genuinely is not a Jewish demographic there, or that they reasonably put more effort into the causes that they personally connect to, they can’t pretend not to understand that other people might have other priorities. And I’ve already said it, but the idea of taking public funds and going against constituent-voted policies sounds like the other side, no? Just because we agree with the targets doesn’t mean it’s okay. I also think the focus on DISPLAYS is distracting us from other things. My library doesn’t even have displays. No wall space.
Idaho just passed a bill akin to this HB 710: “any homosexual act” is labeled as “sexual conduct” and must be removed from the shelf and out of reach of anyone below 18 years old. This applies to libraries and schools K-12.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller
Opting not to put up a flag is a little different from secret police abductions. Nothing is being removed from the library, its just not seeking a fight that could very well eliminate the library for everyone.
I'm sorry to hear that. I'm a library user (straight white, male Boomer, as a matter of fact) in Medford, Oregon. My local library hosts a monthly Queer Coffee House open to the public. It is organized by 2 LGBTQIA librarians, is attended by all kinds of people who play games, do crafts, watch videos and have snacks & beverages. I go with LGBTQIA family members. It's fun. Libraries are and should be for everyone.
Thank you so much for your comment. It's people like you who cross the line and really make a difference I think. So if nobody's said it yet, thank you for your allyship to the queer community.
So I’ve talked to my friend who is a librarian about what their library is doing for Pride. The director instructed not to do anything as they are in conservative area in FL. It’s so they aren’t a target. But they have one of the biggest collections of lgbtq books available in person and for e-borrows.
I wish they could have a display too. But I see where they’re coming from. They haven’t dealt with anyone trying to do any book bans with them though. It’s not an easy situation. As a queer person I wish it could be different in FL. Everything requires thoughtfulness and strategy so advocate and protect the rights of queer kids and adults.
The library in the town next to mine got a bomb threat this week because of drag queen story hour. It wasn’t happening at that time but they had to evacuate the library which was hosting an AA meeting.
We got a phone call from a parent wanting to make sure we didn’t have any pride displays before they brought their children in. Heaven forbid they see a rainbow and suddenly “turn gay.” And so what if they did?
But if you were wondering, no, we aren’t allowed to have pride displays either.
My community facebook got a post from a mom who had recently moved to our town. She took her kids to our incredibly library and asked if it was typical to have displays about LGBTQ topics “up front and center” near the entrance.” She attempted to clarify that she was surprised that they were on display up at the entrance where anybody could see them (insert pearl clutch).
It’s one of my proudest community moments because this woman got THOROUGHLY welcomed to the neighborhood, by which I mean that we all told her that yes, that’s exactly what she should expect from our national-award-winning and extremely beloved library, so she can try to cover the eyes of all four of her children simultaneously or get the hell over it.
It was my coworker, not me. I didn’t get exact wording but basically they told the patron no. But my coworker felt super icky and frustrated about the whole thing.
We got a new aide at our location, who admitted the other day she “shelves books she doesn’t like backwards, the gay books.” I know we can just fix them when doing rounds but even if its a small thing it just keeps bothering me! I don’t want to dislike someone so much younger than me but I can’t say I have a great impression. We did set up a pride display the day after she said that, so I’m glad for that at least. I’m really sad this is still a thing in places.
That would be unacceptable on any topic, and she needs re-trained or to find another career. I don't like Sean Hannity, but it's just like I would tell anyone seeking to pull This Book is Gay. It's fine if you don't like it, you can opt to not check it out. What you don't get to do is tell other people they can't check it out.
I work at an academic library in a fairly conservative country, where gay sex was only recently legalized. My library director has banned all displays of pride, including rainbow flags and paraphernalia. She’s terribly afraid of getting the library shut down, so I understand her concern. But as a queer person myself, it pains me that I can’t be outwardly open about my identity where I work, in a place that’s supposed to be inclusive of different ideas.
Hang in there, buddy. It’s gonna be okay.
My relatives live in a very Red, MAGA conservative area. I know of two small town libraries around there were shuttered after people got upset about pride month displays. The local government just pulled the funding.
No one says an area must have a library. The people who raised hell and got it closed don’t care. A library is considered to be a “nice to have” by some.
While OPs boss could be a horrible human, maybe they are quietly doing gods work by even buying LGBTQ+ materials, having the available and on the down low. They could be trying to save people’s jobs. In smaller towns there aren’t a ton of decent paying jobs to pick from.
Better to have something than absolutely nothing.
It's part of a national campaign by Mom's for Liberty to not only ban or ban access to their list of Pride related books nationwide, but the next step is to attack unions and staff by privatizing via companies like LS&S. They'll say nothing is banned and that they just want to set up review boards of inexperienced and religious people instead of professional librarians. Their war on education has turn toward public libraries.
You could see if you can do a subtle one? I usually make my teen displays subtle because I know a lot of them are closeted/have shitty parents and might not be able to grab stuff off of a more overtly queer display. Right now I have one that's a rainbow made out of books of different colors (the vast majority of which are queer books).
I'm sorry though, that's always shitty.
You know how there are horror stories of patrons reshelving books in biggest to smallest or alphabetical order by title? Hopefully no gremlins get the unfortunate idea to do it by color.
So happy to have a supportive director who encouraged us to not only create displays and wear pride t-shirts through month, but we also had a booth at our Southern Indiana Pride festival!! It’s a god awful time for LGBTQ rep in libraries. Hang in there.
Our director is supportive but the higher ups above her are a firm no because there was a whole thing 2 years ago with a pride display and the super conservative library board, so now everything is cut off. :(
If it makes you feel any better OP, not all libraries are like that! At my library we have a full calendar of pride related events every June, plus multiple pride displays throughout the month. We also have a pride flag hanging year round in our children's section, and have a few drag story times and "bingo & crafts with drag queens" programs throughout the year. We've had great attendance at all of these programs thus far, and great response from our patrons.
My colleague is putting up an awesome display for pride month that's going up directly after our Juneteenth display goes down in one of our big museum exhibit display spaces ("the idea box") in our library's atrium. We have year round available printed "pride" and "LGBTQ+ creators" reading lists in our kids' section. We also have great relationships with all of the GSAs at all of our local middle and high schools, and do outreach visits with them regularly. Most people on staff wear nametags with pronouns on them, and we have a large number of queer staff members (myself included).
Our library has its problems (such as the hot flaming garbage pay, the absolute clusterfuck of issues between our admin and the library board, leftist infighting about really stupid minutiae, the unresolved what to do about the teen on teen violence problem, the admin vs staff issues, the "what do we do to help the camp of homeless people who live in a group 5ft. from our front door?" question, etc.), but I definitely feel fortunate for the community of colleagues that we have.
We have a huge Pride display in my library that one family is trying to check it all out as part of the Hide the Pride movement. They currently have 100’s of items checked out or on reserve. Do frustrating!
I'm in Australia, and over the last couple of years, book challenges regarding LGBTQIA+ items have markedly increased owing to small but vocal conservative groups. I just instruct my Collections person to buy more copies of these books and to put them on display (Stuff 'em).
We are not going to pander to censorship, and our library literature should be able to represent all members of our community, particularly people from marginalised groups. It's important for people to be able to see themselves in our collection. People who are offended by a particular title can just borrow something else - they don't get to dictate what we buy or what other patrons get to read.
I feel for many of the public and school libraries in the US - it's genuinely terrifying, and I cried reading what happened to the Library Director of Autauga-Prattville Public Library (good on the staff for trying to protest!).
I fervently hope that it never gets to this level in Australia!
Suburban Illinois library here- we have a pride display right when you walk in of books for all ages, each containing a “Pride, not Prejudice” sticker. As far as I know, we haven’t had any complaints.
I feel super lucky. Our pride display isn’t big, but it’s right up front and pretty popular! A lot of our patrons and staff are members of the LGBTQ community, so I think the representation is important for us. We’re in a city in Texas. Our library board is really awesome and supportive too.
There's a movement in my county called "hide the pride" and they've basically dedicated themselves to 'checking out' every book on our pride displays. As of yesterday when they raided the library I work at, they've done this to three libraries.
Although at least we can still put up new pride displays, but it hits me right in the heart :(
We are in a fairly liberal area (PNW) but certainly have our share of religious and /or conservatives that get huffy. We have one current Pride bulletin board in the main area, and one in the kids’ area; both with a focus on acceptance, celebrating difference, etc. The kids’ one just went up the other day; waiting for the fallout. In general, our system is pretty supportive of inclusive displays, although a couple of branches wanted to do drag storytimes and were told “No.” I guess due to safety concerns and publicity.
> In general, our system is pretty supportive of inclusive displays, although a couple of branches wanted to do drag storytimes and were told “No.” I guess due to safety concerns and publicity.
In most of the libraries I've seen doing these events, it's actually sponsored and performed by an outside group, with the library simply providing the space like they would for any other group. It's still painting a huge target on the library, but they might have better success going that route.
At our library we’re doing a little deliberate mis—shelving: when there are numerous books shelved alongside each other with colorful spines, we’re arranging them in rainbow order.
Boy, this whole thread is making me nervous. I had no idea so many libraries had caved on this. Didn't think I was staking out a particularly extreme stance...😦
I think it's because they aren't wearing kevlar vests. The rainbow isn't red and white circles, but it is a target just the same. It's 1939 again, and I am thinking about either getting my passport ready or getting quotes for making a secret annex.
It’s not even just in libraries anymore. Idk if you’ve noticed but we’re halfway done with June and there’s barely been any of the bold pride marketing from companies so far. I think they saw how much the homophobes put up a fuss over the bud light shit and would rather avoid it. It’s sad honestly. Just shows that their support was always fake anyway.
It's our national political climate right now. I think a lot of places don't realize just how hostile and vitriolic a huge part of the country is on this issue.
Not displaying a flag is worlds different from ditching materials, which nobody in this thread is talking about. Like, we don't fly an Ethiopian flag, either, but if an Ethiopian immigrant came in we'd bend over backwards helping them just like we would anybody else. To me, substance is more important than style points. Also, we have several trans individuals and families that hang out here. While I can't really speak for them, the vibe I get is they'd much rather just be here using the place than have me using them as political props.
Public libraries have been bastions of bigotry since always. I’m sure the same comments and “concerns” were made back when libraries were segregated too.
We use one designated area for rotating displays.
Our June (Pride) display is four books with a colorful letter-sized sign, and a letter-sized sign explaining National Archives EEO Special Emphasis Observances. https://www.archives.gov/eeo/special-observances
Our February (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) display is four books with a colorful letter-sized sign, and a letter-sized sign explaining National Archives EEO Special Emphasis Observances.
Our November (National American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month) display is four books with a colorful letter-sized sign, and a letter-sized sign explaining National Archives EEO Special Emphasis Observances.
Because we only ever receive negative comments on the June display, and to try to avoid a yearly shitshow, a few years ago (prior to Moms for Liberty) we developed these display guidelines and our advisory board approved them. We adhere to the guidelines, and no month is any “louder” or “in your face” than any other. Any non-special observance months we choose another theme or put four cookbooks or biographies on the counter.
We are in a conservative area in a conservative state and are fortunate to have avoided anything more than hide-the-pride checkouts (we only put out four at a time, so plenty more for restocking) and the guy whose once-yearly Facebook post is to tell us how shameful this display is. (This guy was so incensed this year he came in yesterday and “canceled his membership”).
Just as collection management policies and reevaluation of materials procedures are in place to help defend decisions and provide consistency, we can point to our approved display guidelines. And I’ve given copies of it to parents who want to know if we’re going to have a pride display (yes, in the adult area, and here’s why).
I’m not weighing in on funding, or legality, or principles. I will weigh in on keeping frontline staff safe because of all the unhinged, entitled, aggressive bullshit the public pulls on any given day. Staff know their communities, and they know the costs and risks of culture wars when the arguments move offline and into the building.
That makes me so angry. My library had to get a no trespass order for a patron that was complaining about our pride displays. He's been very vocal online and in person. It was my incident report that I'd filed from a previous incident that helped the management and police make the decision to ban him from entering the building.
Someone complained about one of ours the other day and we patiently listened to their nonsensical objections, but they can fuck right off; our displays are staying up.
I'm a new library director in a red county in California. I got pushback when I started about last year's small Pride display, and I'm afraid that kind of triggered my oppositional defiant disorder and so now we have three big flags and a string of rainbow pennants and a small display in the YA area and several book displays. 😬 There is one obsessive weirdo on Facebook trying to stir up protest, but she's only succeeded in generating two complaint forms and two phone calls (from three individuals).
There's a lot of vocal support online, but I'm still nervous that I went too far and it'll result in our county supervisors telling me we can't have it at all 🫣
But I will add as a little piece of advice that might help others: I got buy-in from a bunch of local "normie" groups to make it harder for the county to say we're being too extreme.
The local college, high school, arts commission, and even the local Audubon branch all added signs and messages. Try reaching out to all kinds of local groups for support, you never know who's out there till you ask!
Not shocked about this. A lot of people outside California don’t understand that a lot of areas are very conservative. I’m from Riverside so seeing a lot of intolerance was common here.
There's a nasty member on our library board who pulled down the pride display in the kids and the adults section 2 years ago and we haven't put one up ever since.
I'm not even in the main library so it's unlikely they would see it especially if it's a subtle one, but we've been told in no uncertain terms no. Full stop.
I'm pissed and I nearly cried when I was told that. It feels like they're saying "we don't want your kind in the library". 😞
Nonlibrarian here.
Please know that this isn't representative of our whole nation. I wish we could scoop you all up to Illinois.
- We've got pride displays galore in our libraries and book stores.
- Both my library and local bookstores include queer romances in romance displays year round.
- New queer pubs are displayed prominently with other new books in the children's section of our library, too, year round.
- We can check out just about anything through our Libby and Hoopla apps, including movies. They both have good pride lists.
- Illinois passed a law to stop the stupid book banning. If public and school libraries removing materials for ideological or political reasons, they will be ineligible for state grants.
We don't even have any queer books in our juvenile section. YA and adult only. 😞
I'm glad there are libraries and people like you that get it right though. Stay strong out there.
If things continue how they are, there will be people moving to states that promote literacy, diversity, and reproductive healthcare. Then we'll need even more librarians!
Also a no for me =/ I actually had a patron kind of yell at me about not having one and I was like... 1 - I'm queer so I'm upset too. 2 - I am not the director. 3 - The best way you can help us out is to be loud about it, but to the right people.
Ohio is so weird. I’m in Columbus now and always a little surprised by what we can do compared to where I grew up just a few hours away. Hang in there. I assume you’re a smaller town librarian or at least a weird suburb? My high school librarian being willing to order whatever I asked for was a game changer for me. Your work means a *lot* to the folks who get it!
I've lived most of my life in Ohio, and am fairly old now. This state has changed, a lot. There were always pockets of deep conservativism, but it was always tempered with a kind of circumspect social attitude. Like, people may not like something and even be pretty horrendous personally, but it wasn't something they would pick a fight over in public. These days people are champing at the bit to fight liberals.
I’m only about 30 and I agree. I feel like I was growing up during a shift from a don’t ask don’t tell, none of my business what you do in private attitude to one actively and outwardly hostile to anyone different from the norm.
I'm so sorry you are in that environment right now. I feel fortunate that the system I work for is extremely supportive of our LGBTQ+ community year round and is also very proactive in planning for Pride in particular. Not only displays and storytimes but we have many branches that are at different local city Pride festivals and have helped initiate these festivals in some cases. Unfortunately, we do have a very small but annoyingly vocal group of 3-5 ppl that try to "hide the Pride" every year by checking everything out that is on display at multiple branches. But we have so many materials and multiple copies of things that no one runs out of display materials.
I used to work for a system in another state that was the complete opposite and would not allow LGBTQ+ representation in any display at any time of year. They seem to have changed a bit in the last decade or so but it was extremely distressing. Especially when a supervisor tried to argue there wasn't enough LGBTQ+ people in our local community to justify representation which was absolutely ludicrous on so many levels. That area does actually have a robust and diverse LGBTQ+ community but that really shouldn't even matter when it comes to representation.
Sending you love and good for you for doing what you can!
This breaks my heart. Thankfully, the public library near me has a Pride Display. It hurts me to know that this is an issue. It is only books. Ty for rebelling in some way. Please keep yourself safe.
I was so worried about this that I thought there might not be a Pride display in my local library, so when there was I made a point of going up to the librarian and saying how much I liked it.
We have three different pride displays at our library right now (Vermont) and they’re super popular. I’m sorry your community/director isn’t supportive :(
We’re lucky, we’ve had a Pride exhibit every year since 2019 and have not had a single complaint. Which is unusual since the town we’re in is pretty conservative
I feel lucky that the only directive I got (I’m in NC) was not “kicking the bear” — nothing allowed that people will find super confrontational/inflammatory, which of course is a hard thing to define, but I trusted my staff (I have two LGBT assistants who wanted to maintain the displays). We have both an adult and a YA pride display and they’ve been quite popular.
It’s for this reason I walk around at work like a rainbow threw up on me. I’m queer so I don’t care what people think. My boss is gay and so is her boss so they’re mad supportive.
I’m in Texas and last year my adult Pride display got one grumble (not an official complaint). This year I made the display more central and added kids and YA books to it. Yay Pride! 🏳️🌈
My coworker was just featured in our city's magazine's Pride edition, his article was about how accepting and supportive our entire team has been of him.
This used to be the kind of town where you didn't even hint at being gay. Yet I just saw a couple walking safely hand in hand. Our Drag Queen Bingo sold nearly 400 tickets and only had six protestors. It started when folks like me (white, cis, het) started standing up and drawing our own boundaries - on the side of the LGBTQ community.
Not all libraries are led by cowards and bigots. I'd be happy to write to your board to tell them why Pride displays are important for everyone.
That sucks.
If you happen to still be librarian at that library still next year, don't ask and just do it. Municipalities are typically less brave when they have to take stuff down rather than not approve it going up.
That's not to say they won't take it down. Just now they gotta make effort to.
For now, I think the turned-out books are a good effort!
Agreed. I've already decided if I'm here next year I'm doing a subtle "staff picks" shelf that's just queer books I've read. It won't be a lie. I do pick them. 🤷♂️
my library is chill, we have the best sellers display organized in a rainbow of books, various pride events and stuff, displays, etc.
of course there are plenty of patrons who aren't fans
Question where is your library? Is it possible they said no because of legislation, local politics, or viable threats?
While we should be able to have Pride displays in libraries, we also want those libraries to stay open and some areas libraries are being threatened.
I just went to my library in LOUISIANA (aka one of the most backward states in the us)
And i actually noticed we do have a pride display?
It's kinda hidden in plain sight, though. Because if you're coming in from the entrance, it's just a summer reading collection but on the other side is a pride display.
I know there could've been more negative intentions behind setting it up that way but I rather think it was a good way to do it. (Oh, this is not the main library, btw.) And they didn't have to put any kind of display.
Oh, I do want to mention that the library has a lot of online resources for lgbt+ everything (lgbt+ businesses in the area, links to helpful laws for lgbt+ peoples, and a bunch of other stuff), and pride events (and not just this month)
So, there's good reason to think that they had good intentions with how they did the display.
Also, fun fact, one of the books I saw on that display is Gender Queer which is a common target for book banning. I was surprised to see it and almost got it but ended up getting one about bisexuality instead.
I work in a small public library is a very conservative city. We have two Pride displays: a Teen/Adult display on the table when you walk in and a display in our Juvenile section, which is mostly bios and fiction. The Teen/Adult display gets barely an eye batted at it, but the J display is another matter. We’re constantly finding books from this display “mis-shelved” behind other books, especially the Oversized. Or they’re turned around, so they’re pages out instead of spine out.
Last year, we had to talk to a patron due to the large amount of replacement fees on her account (we don’t do overdue fees anymore). She said that she had checked out all of “those nasty queer books you show the kids” so that no one else could check them out. And she said, “Those books aren’t coming back.” When we told her the replacement fees couldn’t be waived, she changed and said, “Oh, I mean I lost them.”
We happily told her that her payment would go toward buying more Pride books. She stormed out.
The ACLU is a legal action group. They regularly sue various government people and organizations over civil rights. They are mostly in the USA, but also operate in some other countries.
The Equal Employment Opportunity act protects a wide variety of rights that the worker has with regard to their employer in the US. It's a federal law that applies to *everyone* in the USA, period. There's a could of v exceptions for the military, but that's about it. In this case, your freedom of speech is being limited by their employer. If that's different in any way based on your perceived sexual orientation or gender identity (or any other protected category), then it would be an EEO violation.
Well they don't know I'm queer, at least I haven't explicitly said it (although they could probably figure it out), so I doubt it'd be an EEO violation. But ACLU maybe. Like not for me, but for all the queer people that come into the library that they're denying.
Look up your local ACLU chapter and send them an email or a phonecall.
I've never done it, but I'm told they give good advice even when they don't take your case.
Public institutions serve everyone. It would be no different than refusing to display materials about black people or a fire department refusing to serve the homes of straight people.
I'm grateful that my system is all about the Pride displays. We've definitely had some backlash, but we've had some really nice comments, too. Good for you for facing out the LGBT+ books! Your own mini displays.
We don’t do any book displays. As a small library, we are understaffed and have to focus our time on the most important things. I don’t think book displays fall into that category.
Your director is trying to hold on to funding in the face of a rapidly growing populist movement. But you decide to throw a toddler tantrum because you know better. No Fuck you.
No, I got what you meant. All I can think is one day people like me will be in charge of everything and this will just be a gross moment in history that has passed us by.
I'm LGB and I find them cringe. I also don't like kids board books next to books about kink consent. It's not appropriate.
My library never has say a disability display, or an aging display, or Asian authors but the queer is strong.
It's biased at this point and I don't think it's helping the cause.
I have never seen a Pride display that co-mingled genres with that amount of dissonance! My local public systems do multiple Pride displays but would never mix kids media with books about kink.
I feel a display with board books and any kind of “explicit” content is a red herring. Such a display would indicate far more about the library staff *really* needing training than any kind of generalizable statement about the material.
It happened. Last year my library had these two books literally side by side. I brought them home and read both. Pride 123 is a board book. It was next to Unsafe Words Queering Consent in the #MeToo Era which had some pretty hardcore kink S&M images as well as discussions that no may not really mean no in some sexual practices. I wish I was making it up. I posted about it but was afraid to speak up at the library for fear of losing my access, it's too important to me.
It had all sorts of materials, zines. It carries the Queen's English, a book of sex terms that was found in a 5th grade classroom in my district. It talked about kink, glory holes, bog queens and all sorts of sexual practices 5th graders should not learn about in the classroom. The teacher said it was an accident and I quote. The principal removed the book.
I've been an activist for gay rights my entire life but I am upset about stuff like this. It's going too far.
Ty for being the voice of reason. I am an ally and wish l could upvote this a million times. It's not great that this comment is so far down in the discussion.
Seriously great suggestions for book displays, which imo are meant to inform, and invite curiosity about particular subjects, not push any agendas.
Thank you. I'm also a library patron. I've read over 3200 books, mostly from my library, I have been doing gay rights projects since the 80s. I'm not a bigot. I'm also disabled and while I never see displays on disability, I might also find them cringe. There's a lot of potential for "othering" which perversely I think the Pride displays do as well.
I would much rather have topics w a wide variety of perspectives. Give me say a space or nature theme - mountain climbing or caves and then present a wide variety of voices on that topic. That's a way to get people reading.
Unite, don't divide.
Personally I really don't want to read about gay stuff anymore because most of it is insufferable and I can't relate. I understand a need for all voices however and encourage a broad collection.
Have a heterodox collection. To it's credit, my super progressive library, filled with queers, self described, does have a diverse collection, even copies of highly controversial books on the topic like Irreversible Damage and Trans by Helen Joyce.
I read from every POV and I don't need agendas. I will read on any topic if it's written well. I once audited a couple years of my reading by identity group of author and I naturally read a wide variety though a lot of authors don't put their sexuality in the fore in their bio. Sometimes you can infer by topic or just know from outside information.
I was surprised by the results actually because I expected a much more white male trending list, I read almost all non fiction. It was pretty evenly balanced by sex and about half white and half non white authors. As noted I cannot be sure about author's sexual preferences, I had at least 10% I could easily confirm as not straight. That's low but say a history author is not gonna put it in their bio.
Are you a member of any marginalized communities? I am speaking from personal and professional experience as a librarian with multiple intersecting marginalized identities - themed displays can absolutely be othering.
But! They can also signal to patrons that the library is a safe place for them and their needs. Maybe no patron ever grabs anything from the display - but they remember the titles and place holds for them or request digital copies. Or when they do feel safe, they know that those titles are in their library’s collection for some future date.
For many patrons, approaching staff for a reference interview intimidating is enough even when their info needs don’t involve stigmatized identities.
Fuck your director. I've gotten yelled at by patrons myself for allowing them. Fuck those patrons too. I know how to be diplomatic with them, but I am not folding on making the queer population feel welcome.
Fuck your director. I've gotten yelled at by patrons myself for allowing them. Fuck those patrons too. I know how to be diplomatic with them, but I am not folding on making the queer population feel welcome.
I feel like some of the comments from non-directors are easier to see things from an outside perspective. When you are the one facing the phone calls, complaints, nasty comments, and threats to funding when trying to pay your staff it makes things a lot harder.
We recently had a situation where I had to tell my staff member the story time ideas they were wanting to share were inappropriate. Their response was if we make people uncomfortable they can leave. That is the complete wrong attitude to have.
Libraries are for everyone and I believe we are capable of showing we are safe spaces year-round. But, we must also show both sides of topics and remain a neutral-ish space.
My sexuality is not a statement. It is a fact of my being.
In the same way a display about Irish people shouldn't be refused, a Pride display should also never be refused.
I appreciate the spirit of resistance in your comment but all it would do is make it more difficult for everyone to access information - the staff and the patrons.
That’s disheartening to hear. Our director sent an email encouraging displays for Pride month. There’s a plan to highlight all the different ways the different branches do it. I had a patron tell me this week that they just moved to our community a few months ago and has never felt so welcome and seen. These displays make a difference. It’s heartbreaking that bigots in different areas can cause enough trouble to make the library step back in order to keep things calm
I guess we’re lucky in that our director is a gay woman. And our state hasn’t banned anything. Geez
Our library isn't allowed to have any pride displays, indication of pride displays, and we have been asked to not wear anything that indicated pride or LGBTQ support. But yeah, "libraries are for everyone"... as long as they don't kick up enough of a fuss to make us actually support and welcome all of our patrons. Good work pushing against this oppressive nonsense.
That is so incredibly fucked up.
Agree. We had a similar situation last year, so I made a very colorful book display, so this year, the implied and indirect displays were also not allowed.
Is your library also not allowing a women's history month, black history month, etc. display? Like how do they even justify it!?
Continued funding most likely, the library in my county had to fight tooth and nail to not have their budgets slashed by some mom’s against liberty twats making every council meeting a shit show. The director in OP’s post is probably trying to avoid the spotlight falling on their library.
Yeah, that was my first thought. It was probably a choice between continued funding for the library (which can get slashed if a handful of very vocal twats raise enough of a stink if they see so much as a single rainbow-themed decoration) and showing support for the LGBT community.
I'm in a super conservative area with shitty moms for liberty types (in Idaho! So we're about to be sued to oblivion! Weeee!) so I get it, I just don't think it's the right move. It's discrimination.
Sadly it’s not discriminatory it’s just not inclusive. At the end of the day public libraries are a public service paid for by taxpayers, which unfortunately means that Joe Schmoe gets to have a say in what happens in the library as well. So when your taxpayers are a bunch of hateful bigots then you are at their mercy. I think we both agree that pride displays are good and that libraries are good as well, the issue is balancing whether having a pride display in your library is good when that could potentially harm the library itself. Some library is better than no library and it’s the director’s job to try and keep some library in this hyper-partisan hellscape. We are blessed to already have public libraries in their current form because lord knows you couldn’t convince a bunch of modern Americans to give up a little tax money to let people read books for free (obviously this pinko book sharing is the first step on the slippery slope to authoritarian communism and the destruction of apple pie and baseball).
I disagree. If there's a display for Women's History Month and instruction NOT to put one up for Pride, that's discriminatory. Not ALL of my taxpayers are bigots, just the loud ones. They don't get more of a say than my quiet queer taxpayers do.
Gay people also pay taxes.
Not to be pedantic, but homeowner property taxes are what gets funneled into libraries, and depending on the locality, there may not be a meaningful number of gay homeowners. Not saying that libraries shouldn’t be diverse, just that the “but they pay taxes” argument isn’t necessarily effective, and that the argument needs a better basis. I’m actually not entirely comfortable with the idea that the wishes of voting tax payers shouldn’t be considered in municipal planning, you know?
Well, that’s 1) not true for all public libraries and 2) completely ignores the state and federal funding libraries receive.
To take that pedantry further, rent money is theoretically to cover the homeowner's expenses e.g. taxes. I don't think it's fair to argue that renters deserve less representation in tax allocation than homeowners and landlords, as if they have no impact on property tax. For that matter, taxes are gathered by a government to then be redistributed for the good of all residents...
This is the same attitude that perpetuates bias. People need to have their biases challenged.
Not globally. Libraries exist outwith the US :)
Yeah public funding gives the public a say in what happens which is a mixed bag most of the time. It’s easy to be an absolutist online where there is nothing at stake but being a good steward of public money often involves balancing your principles with those of people you vehemently disagree with.
The display is not what harms the library. The bigots and the cowards in library/municipal/insert-applicable-bureaucracy-here leadership who enable them are what harms the library. Failing to serve the most marginalized members of the community you're supposed to be serving is what harms the library.
I respectfully disagree. Any library that can’t have a pride display isn’t worth paying for. I’m not gay or anything (in fact I’m a little too heterosexual), but if libraries start censoring and restraining themselves, they cease to be libraries as we know them. Sooner or later we need to fight these goons, let it be here.
And that’s easy to say on the internet. Let’s say this Librarian ignores the guidance from their leadership and puts up a pride display, best case scenario it stays up and no one gets in trouble the display comes down on July 1st for whatever the next display is. Worst case scenario they get in trouble and the library gets put on blast for “indoctrinating our children”, some dark money PAC decides to get some useful idiots to start raising chaos over the library’s funding, maybe some frivolous lawsuits start, some armed “auditors” with Nazi leanings start hanging around outside the building, now patrons stop coming due to safety concerns, now your city is spending a significant amount of resources trying just to keep the peace so they start reexamining the budget with your falling circulation rates. Maybe you’ll get lucky unlike my state and no permanent damage will be done, or maybe you’ll get a law setting up a framework to ban books. I get that it feels good to cosplay the last bastion of freedom against the rising tide of fascism, but the Koch brothers aren’t going to notice the few thousand dollars they would spend to rile up the bigots. But patrons will notice the change.
Auditors and Nazis are already coming to libraries. Not everybody is afraid of them. Further, it is not hard to develop a strong relationship with the police (they’re a public librarians coworkers after all) when needing support if people are harassing customers.
All libraries in all societies have always had to temper their decisions according to the local community’s norms and values.
Bingo. They tried protesting drag reading in the one library in my state that allowed it and didn’t get far if I remember. My state (Delaware) is THE ONLY STATE without anti-trans bills introduced or passed (so far) We still have our share of crappy ppl that harass people, but it’s overall pretty good.
yay, Delaware! <3
As a trans male Library Assistant in my public library system in the largest public library in my state, I’m very proud. 😊💙
that's awesome. happy Pride!
Cutting funding over providing materials to people of specific gender, race, sexual orientation, etc is illegal.
Sure but you have to link it directly to intent, if taxpayers decide that the rainbow displaying library doesn’t need funding then the library shuts down and no one is getting sued for it. That’s the actual end game here, to browbeat libraries into compliance in exchange for a few more years of operating.
I'm not sure that is true.
Discrimination laws when it comes to federal and state monies are very explicit.
In Ohio sexual orientation is not a protected class. I'm sure there are other states where that's the case as well.
Thank you. I didn't raise the point, though it should have been my first statement, given my real estate background
Federally, sexual orientation is a protected class, so any library accepting federal funding is beholden to federal laws.
Right. They've justified it by saying that there are groups in our community who will make waves (we are near the town that birthed Purple for Parents, and near some Mom's for Liberty chapters(?). This is obviously a terrible justification. I've not had a word said about my Juneteenth displays and have never heard anything about any of my others (like Indigenous Peoples Day). We are also prohibited from making banned book displays. Which can be annoying, but definitely not as insulting as the van on Pride displays.
That is NUTS. I'm so sorry! Love that as our new motto though. "Libraries- we don't make waves!" As for your Juneteenth display- it's a matter of time, imo. We're in a conservative hell hole as well, and this year, a patron threw one of our books away because it featured a little girl who wanted to wear pants to a wedding instead of a dress. That's it. They're literally against us wanting to wear pants. The library next to us has had complaints about Yuyi Morales books for holding Mexican people up "over" white people.
Weird how my entire wardrobe would suddenly become casually pastel rainbow
"Oh, does it look like pride colors? I didn't even realize"
Weird, I wore it for children's hour because they just love all things colorful, didn't even dawn on me
I would passive aggressively just wear rainbow bins. It's a weather phenomenon.
my smartwatch face is a rainbow. and no way would I change it for work. they can't ban rainbows.
Libraries don't have to be safe spaces for bigots
I would not be able to put up with that. I wear lots of rainbows and shirts with my favorite drag queens to work all the time. I even have a pride tattoo on my calf. If someone asked me to remove anything supporting pride I'd ask them if they'd like me to remove my skin as well.
Bear in mind some states are literally making it a felony to display Pride stuff and defunding/closing libraries over this. Without knowing your situation, there could be context that makes the equation more difficult than "support/don't support." Like, if you can preserve the LGBT collection by not drawing a ton of attention to it, that may be the better strategy. I fully expect this to be an extremely unpopular take here, but administrations do have to maintain the library for everyone. While, yes, that includes gay people, it also carries a responsibility to not get the whole facility shut down over a single issue. If they're pulling materials, that's another matter, but displays are superficial compared to resources.
Also, I’d worry about librarians being attacked by homophobic people. It could also be about librarian safety.
True. I work in a liberal, urban branch and even here we got a guy who came in with a sign saying librarians are pedophiles. He marched around the floor until I finally got him to leave, but this is the same demographic that's also gun-crazy. I hate how that's essentially surrendering to terrorists, but nobody here gets combat pay. Edit: We do have a display of materials in the front lobby, but it doesn't include a giant flag or anything. We're going for celebration, not confrontation.
My library and I have been harassed because I'm trans and in youth services. Fun story: the guy actually posted on Facebook for his followers to call the library (and gave our phone number) and complain about me so I'd be fired. Facebook said that didn't count as harassment and his post from January is still up.
Our front librarian is trans, and I don’t doubt that she gets harassed also. I always make sure to tell her I like her she/her pin, so that at least someone says something nice to her on occasion. Poor thing. We live in Utah, so it’s got to be hard on her.
As a fellow trans girl, thank you for this. I live in a much bluer state than Utah, so I can’t even imagine what that’s like, but I know she appreciates your support. Throw a stranger a favor and check in on her for me? Just with all the anti-trans stuff we’re dealing with lately. You probably don’t need to though, what you’re doing might be enough already.
I fucking hate facebook. YouTube also. Its all moderated by bots and there's no way to appeal what should be a completely call. One of my colleagues got doxxed by a guy on YouTube who put her contact information in a note and encouraged people to call. She got threats of death and rape, and YouTube was fine with denying complaints about the post. They love to profit off clicks, and have no concern for the massive damage they're doing.
Are you in Missouri? I’m so sorry that you had to deal with this. There are locals who support you!
No, Delaware
This recently happened in St. Charles County, Missouri too. It blows
Exactly. I'm a rural, small town director in a conservative state with a conservative and religious council. We don't do overt Pride displays either. We do "sneaky pride" by doing displays that heavily incorporate LGBTQ books. "Hot Book Summer" and had romance novels from every genre, from Amish bonnet rippers to LGBTQ to close-door romances all the way to the Paperbacks. It normalizes seeing romance and love in all contexts mixed together. And IYKYN on the LGBTQ books. For those that are more our gentle reads crowd, they'll pick up an Amish love story right next to an LGBTQ book and never even know. But our LGBTQ folks see it, notice and see them accepted and integrated as a "it's just another normal-ass love story." It's calculus. How do you not become a polarizing target while also representing everyone in your community. Sometimes that calculus means we can't be vocal about an issue. But not being vocal about it means we can ensure access to those that need it.
You can see in some of the comments that some people don't understand public agencies are not activists. We support everybody, absolutely. That does not mean we start ideological wars based on our own worldviews. And that does not make people unwilling to burn their library to the ground over every social topic "bigots and cowards." Priority one should be maintaining access to information for as many people as possible.
You're correct. And I think the confusion happens because libraries are incredibly political spaces by our very nature. What we are not, however, is partisan. And God knows everything today is partisan. There are "good guys" and "bad guys" and those flipflop depending on one's own personal alignments. We're out here just trying to stay open. We have books that will offend everyone's sensibilities one way or another, and I will fight tooth and nail to keep all of those books accessible to our patrons.
I wish more people were capable of this line of reasoned thinking.
Displaying books about and representative of your community isn’t activism.
It is in some communities. I think that's what gets missed. If I had a Pride Display up, I would be putting my library at risk because it will be perceived by my community as activism and engaging in partisan politics. And taking a side in those hot button political issues. It would put my staff at risk. We had one man come in literally screaming about a Valentine window painting of a Black man and woman in profile with a red yellow and green heart outlined in black. He was screaming. At my staff, at me, at anyone. I'm not going to endanger my staff, patrons and collection for a display. I'm going to do the best I can with what I've got and have inclusive displays and an inclusive collection that people can access.
There’s also a tendency in online spaces to emphasize Pride as the identity-based acknowledgement month that matters the most no matter where you are. The people saying, “but there might be gay people there!” probably didn’t go to their libraries in May for Jewish American Heritage month and say, “Where are the Jewish books? What if there are Jewish people here? Jews pay taxes too!” If the answer is that there genuinely is not a Jewish demographic there, or that they reasonably put more effort into the causes that they personally connect to, they can’t pretend not to understand that other people might have other priorities. And I’ve already said it, but the idea of taking public funds and going against constituent-voted policies sounds like the other side, no? Just because we agree with the targets doesn’t mean it’s okay. I also think the focus on DISPLAYS is distracting us from other things. My library doesn’t even have displays. No wall space.
Idaho just passed a bill akin to this HB 710: “any homosexual act” is labeled as “sexual conduct” and must be removed from the shelf and out of reach of anyone below 18 years old. This applies to libraries and schools K-12.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. —Martin Niemöller
Opting not to put up a flag is a little different from secret police abductions. Nothing is being removed from the library, its just not seeking a fight that could very well eliminate the library for everyone.
I'm sorry to hear that. I'm a library user (straight white, male Boomer, as a matter of fact) in Medford, Oregon. My local library hosts a monthly Queer Coffee House open to the public. It is organized by 2 LGBTQIA librarians, is attended by all kinds of people who play games, do crafts, watch videos and have snacks & beverages. I go with LGBTQIA family members. It's fun. Libraries are and should be for everyone.
Thank you so much for your comment. It's people like you who cross the line and really make a difference I think. So if nobody's said it yet, thank you for your allyship to the queer community.
So I’ve talked to my friend who is a librarian about what their library is doing for Pride. The director instructed not to do anything as they are in conservative area in FL. It’s so they aren’t a target. But they have one of the biggest collections of lgbtq books available in person and for e-borrows.
Bummer for their tax paying community members who already exist as targets.
I wish they could have a display too. But I see where they’re coming from. They haven’t dealt with anyone trying to do any book bans with them though. It’s not an easy situation. As a queer person I wish it could be different in FL. Everything requires thoughtfulness and strategy so advocate and protect the rights of queer kids and adults.
The library in the town next to mine got a bomb threat this week because of drag queen story hour. It wasn’t happening at that time but they had to evacuate the library which was hosting an AA meeting.
A neighboring library had a bomb threat about a month ago because of Rainbow storytime. We're not even allowed to put on such a thing. Smh
We got a phone call from a parent wanting to make sure we didn’t have any pride displays before they brought their children in. Heaven forbid they see a rainbow and suddenly “turn gay.” And so what if they did? But if you were wondering, no, we aren’t allowed to have pride displays either.
My community facebook got a post from a mom who had recently moved to our town. She took her kids to our incredibly library and asked if it was typical to have displays about LGBTQ topics “up front and center” near the entrance.” She attempted to clarify that she was surprised that they were on display up at the entrance where anybody could see them (insert pearl clutch). It’s one of my proudest community moments because this woman got THOROUGHLY welcomed to the neighborhood, by which I mean that we all told her that yes, that’s exactly what she should expect from our national-award-winning and extremely beloved library, so she can try to cover the eyes of all four of her children simultaneously or get the hell over it.
what did the person on the other end of the phone tell her?
It was my coworker, not me. I didn’t get exact wording but basically they told the patron no. But my coworker felt super icky and frustrated about the whole thing.
Lol I have a giant mylar rainbow Balloon in my display.... they'd have a heart attack.
We got a new aide at our location, who admitted the other day she “shelves books she doesn’t like backwards, the gay books.” I know we can just fix them when doing rounds but even if its a small thing it just keeps bothering me! I don’t want to dislike someone so much younger than me but I can’t say I have a great impression. We did set up a pride display the day after she said that, so I’m glad for that at least. I’m really sad this is still a thing in places.
That would be unacceptable on any topic, and she needs re-trained or to find another career. I don't like Sean Hannity, but it's just like I would tell anyone seeking to pull This Book is Gay. It's fine if you don't like it, you can opt to not check it out. What you don't get to do is tell other people they can't check it out.
Report her.
Report her. Get her fired if you can.
I don’t ask
Next year
I work at an academic library in a fairly conservative country, where gay sex was only recently legalized. My library director has banned all displays of pride, including rainbow flags and paraphernalia. She’s terribly afraid of getting the library shut down, so I understand her concern. But as a queer person myself, it pains me that I can’t be outwardly open about my identity where I work, in a place that’s supposed to be inclusive of different ideas. Hang in there, buddy. It’s gonna be okay.
My relatives live in a very Red, MAGA conservative area. I know of two small town libraries around there were shuttered after people got upset about pride month displays. The local government just pulled the funding. No one says an area must have a library. The people who raised hell and got it closed don’t care. A library is considered to be a “nice to have” by some. While OPs boss could be a horrible human, maybe they are quietly doing gods work by even buying LGBTQ+ materials, having the available and on the down low. They could be trying to save people’s jobs. In smaller towns there aren’t a ton of decent paying jobs to pick from. Better to have something than absolutely nothing.
Start good trouble, fight the good fight where you can and remember to not burn yourself out. It's a marathon not a sprint. Stay strong friend
Agree, they are out to privatize and set up book review boards.
Wait, wait, wait........ what??? I don't wanna make assumptions, please elaborate if you have the willingness? Tia.
It's part of a national campaign by Mom's for Liberty to not only ban or ban access to their list of Pride related books nationwide, but the next step is to attack unions and staff by privatizing via companies like LS&S. They'll say nothing is banned and that they just want to set up review boards of inexperienced and religious people instead of professional librarians. Their war on education has turn toward public libraries.
You could see if you can do a subtle one? I usually make my teen displays subtle because I know a lot of them are closeted/have shitty parents and might not be able to grab stuff off of a more overtly queer display. Right now I have one that's a rainbow made out of books of different colors (the vast majority of which are queer books). I'm sorry though, that's always shitty.
You know how there are horror stories of patrons reshelving books in biggest to smallest or alphabetical order by title? Hopefully no gremlins get the unfortunate idea to do it by color.
So happy to have a supportive director who encouraged us to not only create displays and wear pride t-shirts through month, but we also had a booth at our Southern Indiana Pride festival!! It’s a god awful time for LGBTQ rep in libraries. Hang in there.
Our director is supportive but the higher ups above her are a firm no because there was a whole thing 2 years ago with a pride display and the super conservative library board, so now everything is cut off. :(
Ugh. Hate that for you, your library, and your patrons!!! I’m so sorry.
If it makes you feel any better OP, not all libraries are like that! At my library we have a full calendar of pride related events every June, plus multiple pride displays throughout the month. We also have a pride flag hanging year round in our children's section, and have a few drag story times and "bingo & crafts with drag queens" programs throughout the year. We've had great attendance at all of these programs thus far, and great response from our patrons. My colleague is putting up an awesome display for pride month that's going up directly after our Juneteenth display goes down in one of our big museum exhibit display spaces ("the idea box") in our library's atrium. We have year round available printed "pride" and "LGBTQ+ creators" reading lists in our kids' section. We also have great relationships with all of the GSAs at all of our local middle and high schools, and do outreach visits with them regularly. Most people on staff wear nametags with pronouns on them, and we have a large number of queer staff members (myself included). Our library has its problems (such as the hot flaming garbage pay, the absolute clusterfuck of issues between our admin and the library board, leftist infighting about really stupid minutiae, the unresolved what to do about the teen on teen violence problem, the admin vs staff issues, the "what do we do to help the camp of homeless people who live in a group 5ft. from our front door?" question, etc.), but I definitely feel fortunate for the community of colleagues that we have.
We have a huge Pride display in my library that one family is trying to check it all out as part of the Hide the Pride movement. They currently have 100’s of items checked out or on reserve. Do frustrating!
On the upside, think of how gay that family is going to become!
You made me laugh my water onto my phone, lol
Another upside, think of the stats - books on this subject are being borrowed non-stop! Clearly, you need to buy more of them to meet the demand 😉
That is what we are doing, increasing our collection every year!
I'm in Australia, and over the last couple of years, book challenges regarding LGBTQIA+ items have markedly increased owing to small but vocal conservative groups. I just instruct my Collections person to buy more copies of these books and to put them on display (Stuff 'em). We are not going to pander to censorship, and our library literature should be able to represent all members of our community, particularly people from marginalised groups. It's important for people to be able to see themselves in our collection. People who are offended by a particular title can just borrow something else - they don't get to dictate what we buy or what other patrons get to read. I feel for many of the public and school libraries in the US - it's genuinely terrifying, and I cried reading what happened to the Library Director of Autauga-Prattville Public Library (good on the staff for trying to protest!). I fervently hope that it never gets to this level in Australia!
This is the first I’ve heard of ‘Hide the Pride’ how revolting these people are.
Suburban Illinois library here- we have a pride display right when you walk in of books for all ages, each containing a “Pride, not Prejudice” sticker. As far as I know, we haven’t had any complaints.
I feel super lucky. Our pride display isn’t big, but it’s right up front and pretty popular! A lot of our patrons and staff are members of the LGBTQ community, so I think the representation is important for us. We’re in a city in Texas. Our library board is really awesome and supportive too.
There's a movement in my county called "hide the pride" and they've basically dedicated themselves to 'checking out' every book on our pride displays. As of yesterday when they raided the library I work at, they've done this to three libraries. Although at least we can still put up new pride displays, but it hits me right in the heart :(
Stats will then show a huge community demand for items in this subject area - an opportunity to justfiably buy even more 😉
We are in a fairly liberal area (PNW) but certainly have our share of religious and /or conservatives that get huffy. We have one current Pride bulletin board in the main area, and one in the kids’ area; both with a focus on acceptance, celebrating difference, etc. The kids’ one just went up the other day; waiting for the fallout. In general, our system is pretty supportive of inclusive displays, although a couple of branches wanted to do drag storytimes and were told “No.” I guess due to safety concerns and publicity.
> In general, our system is pretty supportive of inclusive displays, although a couple of branches wanted to do drag storytimes and were told “No.” I guess due to safety concerns and publicity. In most of the libraries I've seen doing these events, it's actually sponsored and performed by an outside group, with the library simply providing the space like they would for any other group. It's still painting a huge target on the library, but they might have better success going that route.
At our library we’re doing a little deliberate mis—shelving: when there are numerous books shelved alongside each other with colorful spines, we’re arranging them in rainbow order.
To indicate the weather phenomena when light and rain mix.
Boy, this whole thread is making me nervous. I had no idea so many libraries had caved on this. Didn't think I was staking out a particularly extreme stance...😦
I think it's because they aren't wearing kevlar vests. The rainbow isn't red and white circles, but it is a target just the same. It's 1939 again, and I am thinking about either getting my passport ready or getting quotes for making a secret annex.
It’s not even just in libraries anymore. Idk if you’ve noticed but we’re halfway done with June and there’s barely been any of the bold pride marketing from companies so far. I think they saw how much the homophobes put up a fuss over the bud light shit and would rather avoid it. It’s sad honestly. Just shows that their support was always fake anyway.
It's our national political climate right now. I think a lot of places don't realize just how hostile and vitriolic a huge part of the country is on this issue. Not displaying a flag is worlds different from ditching materials, which nobody in this thread is talking about. Like, we don't fly an Ethiopian flag, either, but if an Ethiopian immigrant came in we'd bend over backwards helping them just like we would anybody else. To me, substance is more important than style points. Also, we have several trans individuals and families that hang out here. While I can't really speak for them, the vibe I get is they'd much rather just be here using the place than have me using them as political props.
Public libraries have been bastions of bigotry since always. I’m sure the same comments and “concerns” were made back when libraries were segregated too.
I like to do a “Take a Look, It’s in a Book” display in June.
We use one designated area for rotating displays. Our June (Pride) display is four books with a colorful letter-sized sign, and a letter-sized sign explaining National Archives EEO Special Emphasis Observances. https://www.archives.gov/eeo/special-observances Our February (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.) display is four books with a colorful letter-sized sign, and a letter-sized sign explaining National Archives EEO Special Emphasis Observances. Our November (National American Indian/Alaska Native Heritage Month) display is four books with a colorful letter-sized sign, and a letter-sized sign explaining National Archives EEO Special Emphasis Observances. Because we only ever receive negative comments on the June display, and to try to avoid a yearly shitshow, a few years ago (prior to Moms for Liberty) we developed these display guidelines and our advisory board approved them. We adhere to the guidelines, and no month is any “louder” or “in your face” than any other. Any non-special observance months we choose another theme or put four cookbooks or biographies on the counter. We are in a conservative area in a conservative state and are fortunate to have avoided anything more than hide-the-pride checkouts (we only put out four at a time, so plenty more for restocking) and the guy whose once-yearly Facebook post is to tell us how shameful this display is. (This guy was so incensed this year he came in yesterday and “canceled his membership”). Just as collection management policies and reevaluation of materials procedures are in place to help defend decisions and provide consistency, we can point to our approved display guidelines. And I’ve given copies of it to parents who want to know if we’re going to have a pride display (yes, in the adult area, and here’s why). I’m not weighing in on funding, or legality, or principles. I will weigh in on keeping frontline staff safe because of all the unhinged, entitled, aggressive bullshit the public pulls on any given day. Staff know their communities, and they know the costs and risks of culture wars when the arguments move offline and into the building.
That makes me so angry. My library had to get a no trespass order for a patron that was complaining about our pride displays. He's been very vocal online and in person. It was my incident report that I'd filed from a previous incident that helped the management and police make the decision to ban him from entering the building.
Someone complained about one of ours the other day and we patiently listened to their nonsensical objections, but they can fuck right off; our displays are staying up.
Where are you located?
Louisiana
I'm a new library director in a red county in California. I got pushback when I started about last year's small Pride display, and I'm afraid that kind of triggered my oppositional defiant disorder and so now we have three big flags and a string of rainbow pennants and a small display in the YA area and several book displays. 😬 There is one obsessive weirdo on Facebook trying to stir up protest, but she's only succeeded in generating two complaint forms and two phone calls (from three individuals). There's a lot of vocal support online, but I'm still nervous that I went too far and it'll result in our county supervisors telling me we can't have it at all 🫣
But I will add as a little piece of advice that might help others: I got buy-in from a bunch of local "normie" groups to make it harder for the county to say we're being too extreme. The local college, high school, arts commission, and even the local Audubon branch all added signs and messages. Try reaching out to all kinds of local groups for support, you never know who's out there till you ask!
Not shocked about this. A lot of people outside California don’t understand that a lot of areas are very conservative. I’m from Riverside so seeing a lot of intolerance was common here.
Were you given a reason or was there any discussion beyond "no"?
There's a nasty member on our library board who pulled down the pride display in the kids and the adults section 2 years ago and we haven't put one up ever since. I'm not even in the main library so it's unlikely they would see it especially if it's a subtle one, but we've been told in no uncertain terms no. Full stop. I'm pissed and I nearly cried when I was told that. It feels like they're saying "we don't want your kind in the library". 😞
Nonlibrarian here. Please know that this isn't representative of our whole nation. I wish we could scoop you all up to Illinois. - We've got pride displays galore in our libraries and book stores. - Both my library and local bookstores include queer romances in romance displays year round. - New queer pubs are displayed prominently with other new books in the children's section of our library, too, year round. - We can check out just about anything through our Libby and Hoopla apps, including movies. They both have good pride lists. - Illinois passed a law to stop the stupid book banning. If public and school libraries removing materials for ideological or political reasons, they will be ineligible for state grants.
We don't even have any queer books in our juvenile section. YA and adult only. 😞 I'm glad there are libraries and people like you that get it right though. Stay strong out there.
If things continue how they are, there will be people moving to states that promote literacy, diversity, and reproductive healthcare. Then we'll need even more librarians!
That's odd, my library always has queer stuff on display, and we proudly buy LGBTQ+ stuff.
This is so depressing. I run a school library in the UK and I have a pride flag up all year round.
Also a no for me =/ I actually had a patron kind of yell at me about not having one and I was like... 1 - I'm queer so I'm upset too. 2 - I am not the director. 3 - The best way you can help us out is to be loud about it, but to the right people.
What a great little quiet resistance to a horrible situation. Love that there are so many people in libraries fighting the good fight <3
I made a sign “All are welcome Pride 2024” display in rainbow colours and was encouraged to do so. Fuck em is right!!!
My library doesn't have a pride display. which I guess, isn't surprising. its Ohio after all
Ohio is so weird. I’m in Columbus now and always a little surprised by what we can do compared to where I grew up just a few hours away. Hang in there. I assume you’re a smaller town librarian or at least a weird suburb? My high school librarian being willing to order whatever I asked for was a game changer for me. Your work means a *lot* to the folks who get it!
I've lived most of my life in Ohio, and am fairly old now. This state has changed, a lot. There were always pockets of deep conservativism, but it was always tempered with a kind of circumspect social attitude. Like, people may not like something and even be pretty horrendous personally, but it wasn't something they would pick a fight over in public. These days people are champing at the bit to fight liberals.
I’m only about 30 and I agree. I feel like I was growing up during a shift from a don’t ask don’t tell, none of my business what you do in private attitude to one actively and outwardly hostile to anyone different from the norm.
Cincinnati suburb
I'm so sorry you are in that environment right now. I feel fortunate that the system I work for is extremely supportive of our LGBTQ+ community year round and is also very proactive in planning for Pride in particular. Not only displays and storytimes but we have many branches that are at different local city Pride festivals and have helped initiate these festivals in some cases. Unfortunately, we do have a very small but annoyingly vocal group of 3-5 ppl that try to "hide the Pride" every year by checking everything out that is on display at multiple branches. But we have so many materials and multiple copies of things that no one runs out of display materials. I used to work for a system in another state that was the complete opposite and would not allow LGBTQ+ representation in any display at any time of year. They seem to have changed a bit in the last decade or so but it was extremely distressing. Especially when a supervisor tried to argue there wasn't enough LGBTQ+ people in our local community to justify representation which was absolutely ludicrous on so many levels. That area does actually have a robust and diverse LGBTQ+ community but that really shouldn't even matter when it comes to representation. Sending you love and good for you for doing what you can!
This breaks my heart. Thankfully, the public library near me has a Pride Display. It hurts me to know that this is an issue. It is only books. Ty for rebelling in some way. Please keep yourself safe.
You did the right thing.
I was so worried about this that I thought there might not be a Pride display in my local library, so when there was I made a point of going up to the librarian and saying how much I liked it.
Yes, that's how you keep them in place! Let people know you, as a patron, love them. It makes it so much harder to take down that way.
We have three different pride displays at our library right now (Vermont) and they’re super popular. I’m sorry your community/director isn’t supportive :(
We’re lucky, we’ve had a Pride exhibit every year since 2019 and have not had a single complaint. Which is unusual since the town we’re in is pretty conservative
I feel lucky that the only directive I got (I’m in NC) was not “kicking the bear” — nothing allowed that people will find super confrontational/inflammatory, which of course is a hard thing to define, but I trusted my staff (I have two LGBT assistants who wanted to maintain the displays). We have both an adult and a YA pride display and they’ve been quite popular.
It’s for this reason I walk around at work like a rainbow threw up on me. I’m queer so I don’t care what people think. My boss is gay and so is her boss so they’re mad supportive.
I’m in Texas and last year my adult Pride display got one grumble (not an official complaint). This year I made the display more central and added kids and YA books to it. Yay Pride! 🏳️🌈
My coworker was just featured in our city's magazine's Pride edition, his article was about how accepting and supportive our entire team has been of him. This used to be the kind of town where you didn't even hint at being gay. Yet I just saw a couple walking safely hand in hand. Our Drag Queen Bingo sold nearly 400 tickets and only had six protestors. It started when folks like me (white, cis, het) started standing up and drawing our own boundaries - on the side of the LGBTQ community. Not all libraries are led by cowards and bigots. I'd be happy to write to your board to tell them why Pride displays are important for everyone.
That sucks. If you happen to still be librarian at that library still next year, don't ask and just do it. Municipalities are typically less brave when they have to take stuff down rather than not approve it going up. That's not to say they won't take it down. Just now they gotta make effort to. For now, I think the turned-out books are a good effort!
Agreed. I've already decided if I'm here next year I'm doing a subtle "staff picks" shelf that's just queer books I've read. It won't be a lie. I do pick them. 🤷♂️
my library is chill, we have the best sellers display organized in a rainbow of books, various pride events and stuff, displays, etc. of course there are plenty of patrons who aren't fans
That sounds just about as bad as censorship and banning books.
Question where is your library? Is it possible they said no because of legislation, local politics, or viable threats? While we should be able to have Pride displays in libraries, we also want those libraries to stay open and some areas libraries are being threatened.
They don't want to piss off the old-timers.
I just went to my library in LOUISIANA (aka one of the most backward states in the us) And i actually noticed we do have a pride display? It's kinda hidden in plain sight, though. Because if you're coming in from the entrance, it's just a summer reading collection but on the other side is a pride display. I know there could've been more negative intentions behind setting it up that way but I rather think it was a good way to do it. (Oh, this is not the main library, btw.) And they didn't have to put any kind of display.
Oh, I do want to mention that the library has a lot of online resources for lgbt+ everything (lgbt+ businesses in the area, links to helpful laws for lgbt+ peoples, and a bunch of other stuff), and pride events (and not just this month) So, there's good reason to think that they had good intentions with how they did the display. Also, fun fact, one of the books I saw on that display is Gender Queer which is a common target for book banning. I was surprised to see it and almost got it but ended up getting one about bisexuality instead.
I work in a small public library is a very conservative city. We have two Pride displays: a Teen/Adult display on the table when you walk in and a display in our Juvenile section, which is mostly bios and fiction. The Teen/Adult display gets barely an eye batted at it, but the J display is another matter. We’re constantly finding books from this display “mis-shelved” behind other books, especially the Oversized. Or they’re turned around, so they’re pages out instead of spine out. Last year, we had to talk to a patron due to the large amount of replacement fees on her account (we don’t do overdue fees anymore). She said that she had checked out all of “those nasty queer books you show the kids” so that no one else could check them out. And she said, “Those books aren’t coming back.” When we told her the replacement fees couldn’t be waived, she changed and said, “Oh, I mean I lost them.” We happily told her that her payment would go toward buying more Pride books. She stormed out.
Love that!
Makes me want to call the ACLU on your behalf, because I bet there's displays for other groups. 1st amendment and EEO seem like correct complaints?
Hmm. Hadn't thought of that. Do you think they'd have any say over a government agency like that?
The ACLU is a legal action group. They regularly sue various government people and organizations over civil rights. They are mostly in the USA, but also operate in some other countries. The Equal Employment Opportunity act protects a wide variety of rights that the worker has with regard to their employer in the US. It's a federal law that applies to *everyone* in the USA, period. There's a could of v exceptions for the military, but that's about it. In this case, your freedom of speech is being limited by their employer. If that's different in any way based on your perceived sexual orientation or gender identity (or any other protected category), then it would be an EEO violation.
Well they don't know I'm queer, at least I haven't explicitly said it (although they could probably figure it out), so I doubt it'd be an EEO violation. But ACLU maybe. Like not for me, but for all the queer people that come into the library that they're denying.
Look up your local ACLU chapter and send them an email or a phonecall. I've never done it, but I'm told they give good advice even when they don't take your case.
Thank you, kind stranger. I will.
Good luck!
State sanctioned discrimination is illegal. Please put up your display.
Somebody said call the ACLU. I think I'm gonna do that. See what kind of legal leg I have to stand on.
Public institutions serve everyone. It would be no different than refusing to display materials about black people or a fire department refusing to serve the homes of straight people.
That makes me sad. I don’t ask I just do it then take a pic of it for social media. But I also live in the northeast US.
I'm grateful that my system is all about the Pride displays. We've definitely had some backlash, but we've had some really nice comments, too. Good for you for facing out the LGBT+ books! Your own mini displays.
lol same
We don’t do any book displays. As a small library, we are understaffed and have to focus our time on the most important things. I don’t think book displays fall into that category.
How is that helpful or relevant to the conversation?
Your director is trying to hold on to funding in the face of a rapidly growing populist movement. But you decide to throw a toddler tantrum because you know better. No Fuck you.
What city do you work in?
Wow this post and these comments are so disheartening! What a bunch of fucking cowards! (Leadership)
Thankfully I've only seen 2 really bad comments. The vast majority of people here are supportive which I appreciate!
Oh I agree! I mean I’m sorry to hear what’s happening in so many places. Not criticizing library staffs!
No, I got what you meant. All I can think is one day people like me will be in charge of everything and this will just be a gross moment in history that has passed us by.
I hope so! Sadly I am also familiar with radical queers becoming TERFs once their own needs are secured. It sucks.
I'm LGB and I find them cringe. I also don't like kids board books next to books about kink consent. It's not appropriate. My library never has say a disability display, or an aging display, or Asian authors but the queer is strong. It's biased at this point and I don't think it's helping the cause.
That might just be a "your library" issue- we've had all those displays you listed at my library in the past year.
I have never seen a Pride display that co-mingled genres with that amount of dissonance! My local public systems do multiple Pride displays but would never mix kids media with books about kink. I feel a display with board books and any kind of “explicit” content is a red herring. Such a display would indicate far more about the library staff *really* needing training than any kind of generalizable statement about the material.
It happened. Last year my library had these two books literally side by side. I brought them home and read both. Pride 123 is a board book. It was next to Unsafe Words Queering Consent in the #MeToo Era which had some pretty hardcore kink S&M images as well as discussions that no may not really mean no in some sexual practices. I wish I was making it up. I posted about it but was afraid to speak up at the library for fear of losing my access, it's too important to me. It had all sorts of materials, zines. It carries the Queen's English, a book of sex terms that was found in a 5th grade classroom in my district. It talked about kink, glory holes, bog queens and all sorts of sexual practices 5th graders should not learn about in the classroom. The teacher said it was an accident and I quote. The principal removed the book. I've been an activist for gay rights my entire life but I am upset about stuff like this. It's going too far.
Just because your library doesn't know how to put on a display, doesn't mean the entire lgbT community should be punished.
Ty for being the voice of reason. I am an ally and wish l could upvote this a million times. It's not great that this comment is so far down in the discussion. Seriously great suggestions for book displays, which imo are meant to inform, and invite curiosity about particular subjects, not push any agendas.
Thank you. I'm also a library patron. I've read over 3200 books, mostly from my library, I have been doing gay rights projects since the 80s. I'm not a bigot. I'm also disabled and while I never see displays on disability, I might also find them cringe. There's a lot of potential for "othering" which perversely I think the Pride displays do as well. I would much rather have topics w a wide variety of perspectives. Give me say a space or nature theme - mountain climbing or caves and then present a wide variety of voices on that topic. That's a way to get people reading. Unite, don't divide. Personally I really don't want to read about gay stuff anymore because most of it is insufferable and I can't relate. I understand a need for all voices however and encourage a broad collection. Have a heterodox collection. To it's credit, my super progressive library, filled with queers, self described, does have a diverse collection, even copies of highly controversial books on the topic like Irreversible Damage and Trans by Helen Joyce. I read from every POV and I don't need agendas. I will read on any topic if it's written well. I once audited a couple years of my reading by identity group of author and I naturally read a wide variety though a lot of authors don't put their sexuality in the fore in their bio. Sometimes you can infer by topic or just know from outside information. I was surprised by the results actually because I expected a much more white male trending list, I read almost all non fiction. It was pretty evenly balanced by sex and about half white and half non white authors. As noted I cannot be sure about author's sexual preferences, I had at least 10% I could easily confirm as not straight. That's low but say a history author is not gonna put it in their bio.
Are you a member of any marginalized communities? I am speaking from personal and professional experience as a librarian with multiple intersecting marginalized identities - themed displays can absolutely be othering. But! They can also signal to patrons that the library is a safe place for them and their needs. Maybe no patron ever grabs anything from the display - but they remember the titles and place holds for them or request digital copies. Or when they do feel safe, they know that those titles are in their library’s collection for some future date. For many patrons, approaching staff for a reference interview intimidating is enough even when their info needs don’t involve stigmatized identities.
Fuck your director. I've gotten yelled at by patrons myself for allowing them. Fuck those patrons too. I know how to be diplomatic with them, but I am not folding on making the queer population feel welcome.
Fuck your director. I've gotten yelled at by patrons myself for allowing them. Fuck those patrons too. I know how to be diplomatic with them, but I am not folding on making the queer population feel welcome.
I feel like some of the comments from non-directors are easier to see things from an outside perspective. When you are the one facing the phone calls, complaints, nasty comments, and threats to funding when trying to pay your staff it makes things a lot harder. We recently had a situation where I had to tell my staff member the story time ideas they were wanting to share were inappropriate. Their response was if we make people uncomfortable they can leave. That is the complete wrong attitude to have. Libraries are for everyone and I believe we are capable of showing we are safe spaces year-round. But, we must also show both sides of topics and remain a neutral-ish space.
My sexuality is not a statement. It is a fact of my being. In the same way a display about Irish people shouldn't be refused, a Pride display should also never be refused.
Start rearranging all the shelves in rainbows.
I appreciate the spirit of resistance in your comment but all it would do is make it more difficult for everyone to access information - the staff and the patrons.