We are always big fans of reading diverse books, and emphatic that it’s not a “nice” thing but instead the best (sometimes only) way to learn about the wider world of people around you. And of course, this includes LGBTQ+ materials appropriate to all ages!
Sadly, these materials are some of the most censored topics in libraries right now. If you include books that are directly challenged AND books that school library people don’t buy because it *might* cause a problem, or controversy, or a hard discussion with a principal or a parent, the numbers are probably even higher.
The very interesting book site, Book Riot, looked at this in a recent article. We give you an excerpt below, and link to the whole thing so you can see everything they shared.
Working in a school library is tough. Buying the best books to serve your community is always a challenge. It really helps to think through issues that may not have come up for you yet. Be sure you have a Collection Development policy, and include a Challenge policy!!! (CMLE members: we will write one for your library! Just contact us.)
Authors and Librarians on Why
Schools and Libraries Need LGBTQ+ Books
“Some authors and educators argue that censoring LGBTQ+ books and their authors does a disservice to the students.
“It’s important to speak to youth about gender and sexuality because not speaking about these identities causes a sense of shame,” Kacen Callender told Book Riot in an email. The author of Hurricane Child and the forthcoming King and the Dragonflies says their decision to write queer characters is deliberate.
“Writing Black, queer characters [shows] that we’re all just as important as the white, straight, cis people that I only ever saw and sometimes still only see in media around me,” the author wrote.
Author and former librarian Jen Petro-Roy, who identifies as straight, tells of a childhood friend who struggled to come out while growing up in their small, religious hometown. Her middle grade novel, P.S. I Miss You, was among those EW identified as facing censorship in middle schools.”