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daemonlunaThere's currently a thread going on on one of my library mailing lists (GAY-LIBN, I think) about cataloging GBLT fiction. This led to someone from a research library making the sorta-logical suggestion of putting it in the non-fiction. And I was skeptical.
Speaking as a youth services librarian, I would far rather have GLBT-themed juvenile or YA fiction shelved with the rest of the fiction. I think that it's important that fiction with GLBT themes not be segregated, even in the attempt to provide better subject access. I wouldn't dream of creating separate sections for fiction about kids in wheelchairs, about mixed-race families, or put SF novels with female protagonists on their own shelf. I don't consider GLBT-themed fiction a genre as such.
As well as providing much-needed support and validation for GLBT or questioning teens, GLBT fiction has an important role promoting diversity, tolerance, and understanding. For every GLBT teen that deliberately picks up a copy of Annie on My Mind or Rainbow Boys, there's the straight teen who's taken one of the aforementioned home just because he or she is browsing for fiction. (Or has picked up Am I Blue because it was sitting on the display shelf. Or taken Bad Boy home because it was on my display of sports books. *cough*)
And just maybe, that reader will think twice about using the word "gay" as a schoolyard insult, be that much more accepting when a friend or family member comes out to them, or become more comfortable in their own sexuality. And hey, I can think of several GLBT-related books in my teen section that are really good novels in their own right, regardless of the sexual orientation of the characters. (Balanced out by the ubiquitous problem novels of course, some of which are incredibly didactic.)
And besides, there's also the issue of *gasp* somebody actually realizing you're reading a GAY BOOK! On one of my library lists, someone said they'd discussed it with their teen advisory board, and they decided that the best thing to do was to put booklists with community resources and help numbers, etc. tucked into the books. That way, kids who wouldn't necessarily pick up said list but who might need it would find it. And the only risk was a parent finding it. *sigh* Isn't that depressing? It's a great idea, but that all the precautions are necessary. Argh.
Anyhow, even though it's geared towards university and college instruction, the ALA's Library Instruction for Diverse Populations Bibliography is pretty cool. That is, if you're a librarian and all.
And I promise, next post will be all fannish or at very least vaguely amusing. Really. (pointing at the cat) Trout says so! Incidentally, can you tell I like my new icon? *g*
Speaking as a youth services librarian, I would far rather have GLBT-themed juvenile or YA fiction shelved with the rest of the fiction. I think that it's important that fiction with GLBT themes not be segregated, even in the attempt to provide better subject access. I wouldn't dream of creating separate sections for fiction about kids in wheelchairs, about mixed-race families, or put SF novels with female protagonists on their own shelf. I don't consider GLBT-themed fiction a genre as such.
As well as providing much-needed support and validation for GLBT or questioning teens, GLBT fiction has an important role promoting diversity, tolerance, and understanding. For every GLBT teen that deliberately picks up a copy of Annie on My Mind or Rainbow Boys, there's the straight teen who's taken one of the aforementioned home just because he or she is browsing for fiction. (Or has picked up Am I Blue because it was sitting on the display shelf. Or taken Bad Boy home because it was on my display of sports books. *cough*)
And just maybe, that reader will think twice about using the word "gay" as a schoolyard insult, be that much more accepting when a friend or family member comes out to them, or become more comfortable in their own sexuality. And hey, I can think of several GLBT-related books in my teen section that are really good novels in their own right, regardless of the sexual orientation of the characters. (Balanced out by the ubiquitous problem novels of course, some of which are incredibly didactic.)
And besides, there's also the issue of *gasp* somebody actually realizing you're reading a GAY BOOK! On one of my library lists, someone said they'd discussed it with their teen advisory board, and they decided that the best thing to do was to put booklists with community resources and help numbers, etc. tucked into the books. That way, kids who wouldn't necessarily pick up said list but who might need it would find it. And the only risk was a parent finding it. *sigh* Isn't that depressing? It's a great idea, but that all the precautions are necessary. Argh.
Anyhow, even though it's geared towards university and college instruction, the ALA's Library Instruction for Diverse Populations Bibliography is pretty cool. That is, if you're a librarian and all.
And I promise, next post will be all fannish or at very least vaguely amusing. Really. (pointing at the cat) Trout says so! Incidentally, can you tell I like my new icon? *g*
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-03-24 06:43 pm (UTC)And it seems to me that JF and YAF readers don't do much NF reading, unless it's for school. {Or they're obsessed about something.} If you want subject access, wouldn't it make more sense to have books where the target audience will find them?
As for 'gay book' ~ WTF is a 'gay book'?
{I'm one of those random people from McTabby. I love your icon. I used to be a page at the local public library. I like library talk. I'm rambling. I friended you.}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-03-24 09:40 pm (UTC)Elementary kids usually read more NF than YAs, IMHO. Dinosaurs, how-to-draw, books on pets (often, wish fulfillment *g*), cars and trucks, oh, and mummies and icky dead things. Although if you point out cool NF to teens (ie, how to draw manga, shark attacks, how to make your own henna tattoos, ghosts of fill-in-local-area-here, you can grab a lot of the reluctant readers.
Anyhow. I'm not entirely sure what makes a "gay book" either. Other than if it's about being gay. Like, enough books about oh-gee-I-think-I'm-gay and coming out to crush/friends/parents to fill a whole... uh... single shelf.
{Pleased to meetcha. ^_^ I', if it's not apparent, am a fannish librarian.}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-03-24 07:14 pm (UTC)That of course brings up the question of "how much gay = gay themed?" The 'Last Herald Mage' trilogy deals with a lot of homosexual issues, even if it is in a safely fantastical environment, whereas the Anne McCaffery book just points out what wise Pern readers realized a long time ago: that men riding female dragons WILL end up becomming another dragonrider's bitch during mating season, unless they both just decide jack off. ^_^;
(no subject)
Date: 2004-03-24 09:29 pm (UTC)Last Herald Mage and Dragonriders both fall into fantasy. And that's one of the issues--what IS a GLBT book? Although my rule-of-thumb is whether or not one of the main themes of the book is somehow about being gay. Which means, for YA books, coming out to self/parents/etc. is almost ALWAYS what it's about. And I was going to comment on said books, but I think I'm going to have to turn that into a separate post because it was getting too fricking long. (But who else here had their first exposure to gay characters through genre fantasy? I know my hand's up...)