Oxley, along with fellow PGCMLS librarian Teresa Miller, co-presented “Queering the Library: Strategically Creating Space for the LGBTQ+ Community” on Sunday, June 26, at the American Library Association’s 2022 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. Throughout the country, a spate of high-profile challenges and attempts to ban or destroy LGBTQ+ books, including in bookstores … Continue reading ‘We Are Not Okay’
A research team surveyed participants in the Program for Collaborative Cataloging’s Wikidata Pilot Project to explore how galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (collectively referred to as GLAM institutions) are navigating these ethical issues. Members presented the findings, to be published this summer in the journal KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies, in the session … Continue reading Too Much Information?
Those words were not written about the current spate of book bans, although they certainly apply. They were written nearly 70 years ago, as the ravages of McCarthyism, censorship, and persecution made it necessary to codify a defense of the reading choices of individuals. The 1953 Freedom to Read Statement remains a rallying cry for … Continue reading Leading the Fight
Your new book, Cold, is about two teenagers: the ghost of a boy and a girl who wants to solve his murder. What drew you to writing your first murder mystery? I’ve always loved reading mysteries, but the element of suspense wasn’t something I had ever focused on in prose. After a few years of … Continue reading Newsmaker: Mariko Tamaki
Public Libraries and Their Communities By Kay Ann Cassell Before a library can offer services and build collections for diverse patrons, it is important that it understands the makeup of its community. Cassell offers an introductory look at the basics of running a public library and speaks to how staffers can directly connect to … Continue reading Diving into Diversity
“You should be proud of the results,” she told the PLA board, conference committee, and staff who created a safe and stimulating atmosphere in Portland, Oregon, and a seamless experience for the more than 1,000 people who participated virtually. “It’s so amazing to see this Closing Session so full!” Huggins thanked attendees for their thoughtful … Continue reading Finding Ourselves
Tamaki discussed her new novel, Cold (Roaring Brook Press, February), at the American Library Association’s (ALA) LibLearnX virtual conference on January 24. She said that as she read and researched the genre, she discovered that the mystery format “plays really well into the things that I’m interested in writing about,” she said in conversation with … Continue reading Wrapped in a Mystery
The state climate can be openly hostile to queer people: The nonprofit Movement Advancement Project has ranked Texas “low” when it comes to policies relating to sexual orientation and “negative” on policies related to gender identity. How, then, has the lived experience of queer librarians and library workers compared with expectations? Arro Smith, technical services … Continue reading How to Be Queer in Texas
He spoke with American Libraries about his librarian mother, what he’s learned from playwriting, and his recent $2.5 million gift to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts campus at Lincoln Center, which will fund a new laboratory space. How did your mother become a school librarian? My mother had a great love … Continue reading Newsmaker: Harvey Fierstein
Databases and digital resources Almost every library has at least one database subscription that offers curated content published by reputable sources. The target audience and content vary widely among databases, and because databases are digital resources, users can access the content in various settings—in the library, at school, and at home. These factors can cause … Continue reading A Deeper Look: Censorship beyond Books
Access language—subject headings, naming terms, and search terms—reflect the values, priorities, and assumptions of their creators, and often demean or pathologize marginalized groups. The complexity of solving these issues—if they are solvable—was explored in “What’s in a name?: LGBTQ+ and Latinx perspectives on access terminology—challenges and solutions,” on Saturday, June 26, as part of the … Continue reading What’s in a Naming Term?
Her longstanding commitment to equal rights and making LGBTQ material more available to educators, students, and researchers led to Johnston herself becoming part of an archive a few years ago. She shared experiences about her involvement with the Rainbow Round Table with members of the ALA Emerging Leaders Program for their oral history of the … Continue reading Promoting LGBTQ Resources
