Developing Best Practices for Serving Transgender Patrons at Academic Library Service Points

Developing Best Practices for Serving Transgender Patrons at Academic Library Service Points
Developing Best Practices for
Serving Transgender Patrons at
Academic Library Service Points
By Rebecca M. Marrall

Is Your Library Doing Enough for LGBTQ Patrons?

Here are some ideas to increase the value of your library for LGBTQ patrons:

Look around your library through the eyes of an LGBTQ patron. Is it welcoming? Safe? Inclusive? Does the library help foster a sense of community? See some ideas of how to increase the value of your library for LGBTQ patrons.

Include content with positive representations of LGBTQ history, themes and events
Enhance book displays with diverse faces and families
Label spines with genre (such as putting a rainbow sticker on the spine of books with LGBTQ content)
Present LGBTQ-genre reading lists
Decorate with welcoming posters
Display pamphlets from LGBTQ organizations
Include LGBTQ-related materials in other events (Banned Books Week, Holocaust Remembrance Day, etc.)
Provide both Fiction and Nonfiction resources
Encourage community involvement in collection development
Participate in Pride celebrations by having book displays or exhibits
Provide meeting space for LGBTQ organizations
Ensure that Pro-LGBTQ websites are accessible
Offer career resources for LGBTQ patrons

Resources:
From the EBSCO database:

Betz, J. (2012). Library as Safe Space-Librarian as Ally. GLBTRT Newsletter: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, & Transgendered Round Table, 24(1), 4.
Day, S. (2013). LIBRARIES AS LGBTIQ VENUES. Gay & Lesbian Issues & Psychology Review, 9(1), 46-50.
Folds, R. (2011). don’t be left out! Echelon Magazine, 28.
Hart, G., & Mfazo, N. (2010). Places for all? Cape Town’s public library services to gays and lesbians. South African Journal of Libraries & Information Science, 76(2), 98-108.

WE THE PEOPLE Libraries as Safe Spaces for LGBT+ Patrons

WE THE PEOPLE Libraries as Safe Spaces for LGBT+ Patrons
WE THE PEOPLE
Libraries as Safe Spaces for LGBT+ Patrons
by Anthony Aycock

A Toolkit from the American Library Association Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table

A Toolkit from the American Library Association Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table

Serving Everyone Welcoming the LGBT community

Serving Everyone Welcoming the LGBT community
Serving Everyone
Welcoming the LGBT community
June 24, 2015

Libraries as Safe Spaces. American Library Association

Libraries as Safe Spaces. American Library Association
Libraries as Safe Spaces
It behooves librarians to figure out how to serve LGBTQ patrons
By Shawn Vaillancourt | December 11, 2012

Libraries Respond: Services to LGBTQ+ People

Libraries Respond: Services to LGBTQ+ People> American Library Association
Libraries Respond: Services to LGBTQ+ People
Libraries can serve lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LBGTQ) people by ensuring that this population is reflected in library collections and provided with services at the library. As a population which is often the subject of discrimination and harassment, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people can benefit from the access to information which libraries provide and the sense of community which library programs can help foster. It is important to note that the LGBTQ population is diverse, spanning age groups, ethnic and racial groups, socio-economic groups, and personal identities.

Standing Up for Our Communities Best practices and resources for public libraries serving LGBTQ youth

Standing Up for Our Communities Best practices and resources for public libraries serving LGBTQ youth
Standing Up for Our Communities
Best practices and resources for public libraries serving LGBTQ youth
By Chase Ollis | June 21, 2017

Some Libraries Are Facing Backlash Against LGBT Programs — And Holding Their Ground

Some Libraries Are Facing Backlash Against LGBT Programs — And Holding Their Ground
Some Libraries Are Facing Backlash Against LGBT Programs — And Holding Their Ground
Drag queen storytimes and other LGBT programs are meant to create safe spaces for the queer community. The librarians running them are getting death threats.
Mitchell Kuga
BuzzFeed Contributor
Posted on November 15, 2018, at 2:51 p.m.

MORE THAN A SAFE SPACE | SUPPORTING THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY IN THE LIBRARY AND BEYOND

MORE THAN A SAFE SPACE | SUPPORTING THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY IN THE LIBRARY AND BEYOND
MORE THAN A SAFE SPACE | SUPPORTING THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY IN THE LIBRARY AND BEYOND
Supporting the LGBTQ community in the library and beyond.
A passion shared by librarians is the belief that libraries should be welcoming, free, and open to all while providing equitable service to their communities. Among the communities libraries are committed to serving is the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) population, which is often referred to as “the invisible minority”. The perceived invisibility of the LGBTQ community is often rationalized by arguing that the LGBTQ population is small, and therefore not a portion of the community that requires attention to special interests and needs.

However, according to UCLA’s Williams Institute, 4 percent of America’s population identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. That is approximately thirteen million people—a minority far too large to ignore.

Fortunately, libraries are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of this population with dignity and respect. This paper highlights the ways libraries can acquire, provide, and promote the appropriate services and resources needed to support LGBTQ persons while providing safe spaces and effecting change in their broader communities.
© 2020 Gale, A Cengage Company

PVAMU Multicultural Affairs LGBTQIA+: Panther Ally: Academic Library Services for LGBTQIA+