Lisa Carlson

LIS585
Read and Respond #2
October 11, 2014

Jane Smith, a recent graduate of the University at Buffalo's Library and Information Science
program, has landed her first job as a School Library Media Specialist at Sunnyvale High School
in Sunnyvale, Texas. She is replacing Alice Jones who has been the librarian there for 40 years.
Jane believes that Alice has done an excellent job and has created a great learning center, but she
sees one area that could use improvement; the collection has very few YA novels for LGBTQ
readers, and the ones that are in the collection are getting old.
Jane likes to keep up on her professional reading which includes professional publications but
also includes some blogs. One evening, after one of her first days at her new job, she read a blog
entry on www.epicreads.com called "25 Must-Read YA Books Featuring Gay Protagonists." The
next day at work, she looked in the collection for young adult literature for LGBTQ readers. She
found only a few older books, like The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Annie on My Mind. Jane
knows from studying collection development books like Mona Kerby's Collection Development
for the School Library Media Program that "teens ignore books that are ten or more years
old" (Kerby, 20). Jane thinks the the YA fiction section needs some "freshening up" overall so
she decides to purchase some new novels for students' pleasure reading, and she includes some
LGBTQ titles in her order.
Jane would like to do more in her library to encourage pleasure reading, so when her new
books arrive, she decides to set up a "new books" display near the front of the library where
students passing in the hall can see. A teacher, Mike, saw her setting up the display, noticed the
gay-themed books, and came in to talk.
"Hi Jane, I see you have some new titles" he said, picking up the book Two Boys Kissing.
The book's cover shows two boys kissing. "I'm afraid you might get some heat about this one."
"What do you mean? We have other gay themed novels. In fact," she said, picking up two
others from the display, "these are gay themed too, you just can't tell from the cover."
"Sorry Jane, I know we have gay themed novels, and I'm perfectly fine with that, it's just that
there's an unwritten rule around here that we keep them kinda 'hush-hush'. Alice bought some
novels a few years back, and some parents complained. They didn't want their kids exposed to
that kind of literature, so if Alice bought this kind of book, she would just put them on the shelf
without much fuss. There's a big church in this community that wields quite a bit of influence,
and they'll cause a stink if they know you're displaying these books like this."
Alice wasn't around for Jane to ask about this. Mike was sympathetic. He didn't agree with
the practice of hiding the gay literature, but he didn't want Jane to have to deal with the wrath of
the community. Jane didn't want to rock the boat so early in her time at this school, so she took
the gay themed books off the display and left the rest there.
James, a gay student watched the conversation between Mike and Jane through the window in
the hall. He had stopped at his locker across from the window and saw Jane setting out the
books. He couldn't hear the conversation, but when he saw Jane take three books away (one of

which he knew was gay themed because it had two boys kissing on the cover) he understood
what was happening. Later, at home, he told his parents that he thought the new librarian was
being pressured to hide the gay lit.
James' mother has protested this practice before, but through the years she has largely given
up. Now, though, there is a new librarian, and she wants to try again to change this practice.
After talking to James' mother, Jane decides that this "unwritten rule" or practice of hiding
YA literature with LGBTQ themes needs to end and that there needs to be a policy in place to
ensure that LGBTQ books are on equal footing with any other novels in the school. Jane writes
a memo to the school principal to argue for her position.

(Memorandum follows)

MEMORANDUM
TO: John Anderson, Principal, Sunnyvale High School
FROM: Jane Smith, School Library Media Specialist
DATE: October 12, 2014
SUBJECT: Treatment of LGBT literature in the school media center
It has come to my attention that, for years, there has been an "unwritten rule" or practice in the
school media center to downplay the presence of LGBT literature in the collection. The parent
of one of our students has spoken to me personally to complain about this practice and I support
her position. I would like to propose a meeting to discuss a formal written policy to put an end
to the practice of treating young adult literature with gay themes differently than any other
literature.
Background:
According to a study published by the American Library Association in School Library
Research, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) student population
is underserved in most school libraries in the country (Hughes-Hassell, Overberg, and Harris, 1).
To begin to rectify this in our school, I recently purchased three LGBTQ themed novels along
with twelve non-LGBTQ themed novels to add to the library collection. While setting the new
books on display, a teacher brought to my attention that a community group would object to the
three books being on display in view of all the students, and that they would likely insist that the
books be moved. One of our students saw me remove the books and relayed the story to his
mother who renewed her interest in protesting this practice. The student's mother spoke to me,
and as a result, I'd like to propose a formal written policy that will establish equality among
novels and books representing the diversity of our school population and align with the core
values of my profession.
Guidance:
A policy which protects LGBTQ materials from marginalization is critical for the protection of
the intellectual freedom our school values. The Library Bill of Rights states that:
I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information,
and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should
not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to
their creation.
III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to
provide information and enlightenment.
IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting
abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.
(Stein Martin and Zannier, 135)

The LGBTQ books in our collection meet the criteria selection as described in our selection
policy, however, their segregation from other materials is contrary to the principles held dear by
librarians. The American Library Association interprets the Library Bill of Rights to mean that if
a challenged material has met the criteria for selection, it "should not be removed under any legal
or extra-legal pressure" and that there is a specific procedure set out in the Constitution to
challenge freedom of expression.
Discussion:
Librarians believe that "reading is among our greatest freedoms" and "free communication is
essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture" (Stein Martin and Zannier,
138). We faculty have the obligation to prepare our students to function in the diverse world
outside our school and community, and to do so, we must not marginalize material that some
deem unacceptable.
I propose:
A written policy giving equal treatment to LGBTQ books
A statement in that policy expressing our school's principles of respecting diversity
Posting the Freedom to Read Statement in the library
Displaying LGBTQ books with other books without discrimination
Gay rights have come a long way in the past decades, but the Huges-Hassell, Overberg, and
Harris report has startling statistics about the climate in which our gay students live. Citing a
national climate survey, they say that 63.5% of LGBTQ students felt unsafe at school, and that
gay students in rural areas or small towns (like ours) felt even less safe. Providing reading
material that speaks to them offers them the "opportunity for self-affirmation and socialization"
that is important to any teen regardless of sexual orientation (Hughes-Hassell, Overberg, and
Harris, 2). The school library media center needs to be a place where all of our students feel
safe, welcomed, and valued.

I look forward to further discussion on this matter,

Sincerely,
Lisa Carlson

School Library Media Specialist

Reference
Hughes-Hassell, Sandra, Elizabeth Overberg, and Shannon Harris. "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,


Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) - Themed Literature for Teens: Are School


Libraries Providing Adequate Collections?" School Library Research 16 (2012): 1-18.


Www.ala.org. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.
Kerby, Mona. Collection Development for the School Library Media Program: A Beginner's


Guide. Chicago, IL: American Association of School Librarians, 2006. Print.
Martin, Barbara Stein, and Marco Zannier. Fundamentals of School Library Media Management:


A How-to-do-it Manual. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2009. Print.