Jill MinorTo my knowledge, there is no consensus in the LGBTQIA+ community that public libraries cannot give one more cent to Pottermore Publishing, ever, and that if they do, librarians are transphobes. If there is such a consensus, which I doubt, I submit that being a librarian and managing a library collection for the entire general public (while being under pressure from that same general public from all sides) is far more difficult, and less morally unambiguous, than that community imagines it to be.
Kyle Stewart@jillrhudy Y'all librarians are walking some damn narrow tightropes when it comes to balancing patron needs, free speech and representation. I can't think of any profession I trust more to make those choices, even the ones I disagree with.
@KyleStewart honestly, this brought tears to my eyes. If I were running a bookstore and could choose anything *I* wanted, it would be a diversity paradise. I'd have a rainbow WALL from front to back. What really grinds my gears is the entire "inspirational" genre taking up ever-growing shelf space that is unrepresentative on purpose because that content is not "clean" or "Christian." They demand it. We buy it. We shelve it. (I hate it).
@jillrhudy The pushback on this library of the year award stuck with me as an example of just how hard some of these decisions are. Full disclosure, I work at the awards sponsor (Gale) https://www.libraryjournal.com/story/libraryoftheyear/A-Statement-from-LJ-on-the-2020-Library-of-the-Year
A Statement from LJ on the 2020 Library of the Year
When we announced The Seattle Public Library (SPL) as the 2020 Gale/LJ Library of the Year yesterday, many librarians protested our celebrating a library that had allowed the Women’s Liberation Front, an anti-trans group, to rent a meeting room for an event in February.We hear the anger and disappointment and take these concerns seriously. We understand why SPL’s board of trustees made the decision it did, but we wish that the library had not allowed that event to go forward. Nonetheless, Library Journal stands by the award, and we want to explain why.
@KyleStewart oh, that whole thing was horrible. Just horrible.
Log 🪵@jillrhudy Libraries are for everyone. If someone comes in for something morally objectionable, they also might accidentally pick up some knowledge, understanding, and perspective during the visit. Curated collections are fine, but please keep one of everything in the stacks. Censorship of books, even soft censorship by not buying or shelving copies of culturally relevant works, is for the bad guys. People who try to control what you can read, try to control what you can think.