The Kentucky Teen on a Quest to Put More Gays On Library Bookshelves
Oh go read this essay by 15-year-old gay Kentucky blogger Brent, about his quest to get gay characters stocked in local libraries. This is a kid who runs his own book blog (!) and, rather than list his favorite Top 40 artists on an overstuffed MySpace page, lists his favorite book characters and authors that inspire him. Fall in love.
He writes: “When I set out to find more LGBT titles, I turned to my school’s library. Honestly? It was pathetic. There was not one single LGBT novel. But oh, of course the librarian went out of her way to buy books about gangs, drugs, and teen pregnancy. Like, for real, the people who actually do care about gangs, drugs, and teen sex sure as hell don’t read–they’re too busy (note: gangs, drugs, and teen sex. Yeah, they’re going to interrupt all that fabulous action to sit and read a good novel!). When I asked her about it, she replied, ‘This is a school library. If you are looking to read inappropriate titles, go to a book store.’ Uhm, how in the hell is LGBT YA lit ‘inappropriate’?”
When Brent went to his city library, the only gay book he could find was The Meaning of Matthew.
“The world needs more librarians who serve the purpose of finding the right book to put in the right person’s lap. Not librarians who think that they can decide what’s ‘inappropriate’ and what’s not, based on their personal prejudices.”
Wow. This is one of the best things I’ve read on Queerty in a very long time. What a terrific young man. I read his essay on Pinched Nerve and checked out his blog — he’s also a very good writer.
Brent, if you’re reading this I just want to say “Keep up the great work”. You have real talent.
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This is a great story! Good for you, Brent!
How sad, though, that any adults who choose to be supportive of this young man will likely get labeled as pervs by the “good country people” who foster all the suppression/ repression.
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Keep up the good work! As a future teen librarian, I commend you for taking your librarian(s) to task for not providing a broad, useful collection with a variety of viewpoints. They are guilty of “self-censoring” and going against the ALA (American Library Association’s) Code of Ethics. You go!
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Brent, thank you for writing such a wonderful and moving essay. I’m 25 years older than you and can tell you that finding positive LGBT images and representations in a small town in Florida in the late 70s and 80s wasn’t easy.
That’s why I, too, turned to literature. Sadly, there weren’t any Young Adult books about LGBT youth at that time, so I found myself reading the grown-up books with gay characters (either lead or supporting), like Allan Drury’s “Advise & Consent,” Belva Plain’s “Random Winds,” etc. More importantly, for me, was that I discovered history and the books that explored gay men and women of the past–that love of history led me to major in the subject at university and now I’m a high school history teacher.
Keep up the good fight and follow your dreams!
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What is an “LGBT” title? There are books about gays and lesbians. That is what this great kid is trying to get onto the library shelves.
I seriously doubt if he is trying to stock books about drag performers, straight men who get off on wearing their wives’ panties, and adults who wish to use medical procedures to resolve their GID, all of whom fall under the banner of “T” and nearly all of whom are straight. I also doubt if he would find a “title” that deals with these completely distinct concepts. The only time you ever see gay and trans used together is when political activists are trying to train us to use “LGBT”.
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I will say that my high school library was pretty good. It opened my eyes to a lot of issues that I knew nothing about being from a small southern town. I think the librarian in my school got an away with a lot because most of the hicks in my school never read any books let alone go into the library. I first learned about HIV and AIDS by reading And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts. Before I found the book I had no idea that HIV and AIDS existed and this was in 1993.
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Mega props to both you dudes. Unfortunately you will find some asshats even here on Queerty Street who will toss poo your way. I give you credit for havin the balls to actually be involved at 15. Don’t pay attention to the haters……………….
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No need to applaud this kid and then go rest on your laurels. You too can participate in improving your local library collection.
I used to live in the Darkest Republican wilderness of far north suburban Dallas (it seemed like a good idea at the time). Freshly broken up with a boyfriend, I got on the good side of the local small town newspaper, and had him slip a monthly announcement in the “Town Notices” section (right in between the Republican Women’s Prayer Meeting and the Boy Scout meeting) that said:
“The Colony Gay and Lesbian Breakfast Club meets the first Sunday of every month for food & fellowship. Call 666-666-0000 for more information.” Lol, it was a good thing I had the phone company install a second phone line for the answering machine, ’cause it was burning with angry and nasty calls. But, in a few months, we had about 30 to 40 folks showing up for breakfast, a nice little club.
I had also volunteered to help out the local library club, and noticed they didn’t have any GLBT books. So, I passed the hat at the breakfast club a few times to collect $$$ to donate to the “Friends of the library” club, who specified that the $$$ be used to buy GLBT books (that’s the way thing generally seem to work). It took a couple months for the process to work, but we eventually got a dozen or so titles in the town library, and the librarian added a bookplate, “Donated by The Colony Gay and Lesbian Breakfast Club.”
Anyway, any of y’all can do what our breakfast club did, and what this kid in Kentucky is doing. See if your library needs more GLBT books, see if your library has a “Friend of the Library” club, and ask how you can donate $$$ for GLBT books.
Don’t be surprised when they tell you not to bring your books in. If you want books that might be considered to be “controversial” to stay in the library collection when they are challenged by Fundamentalists, it’s best if the librarian says, “I chose this title because of blah blah blah and blah blah blah.”
When you make your donation, include a list of books you’d like to see added to the library, and let things go from there. Most libraries are ok with these sorts of requests, because most (from what I’ve seen) librarians are GLBT or comfortabley open-minded on the issue.
Anyway, this kid is a hero, and any of y’all can be as well. Take up a collection at your local pub, bar, club, bath house, church, brunch bunch, or whatever, and donate it to a needy library organization (usually their “Friends of the Library” club). As the hairbrush manufacturers say, “Do your part!”
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Bravo to Brent! I remember feeling the same way but that was back in the 80s and I’m not sure there were gay novels (or even gay characters in YA novels) for young adults back then. Instead I read the novels of Gordon Merrick and those will warp your mind!
It’s also a problem for adult Public Library users. Libraries will purchase many copies of bestselling titles but not even a single copy of LGBT titles, fiction or non-fiction, even award-winning ones.
If that’s true of your local Public Library then don’t just congratulate Brent, do what he did and demand better service for your tax dollars.
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The bookworm turns…