![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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*
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(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.}