Gladd and EveryLibrary Team Up to Help You Stop LGBTQ+ Book Bans

Yesterday morning my friend and colleague Lila Denning sent me this text:

Activist patron checking out titles from pride displays. Our head of circ responses with "circulation is up; buy more!"

This comment was in response to a common tactic advocated for by organized groups who know they cannot get away with tying to ban LGBTQ+ materials, so instead they simply use up all of their allotted checkouts going library to library checking out every item from the Pride Month displays.

While this is a good tactic in that we cannot prohibit them from doing this, we can retaliate buy using the increased circulation statistics as a reason for buying even more titles, it is not all you should be doing.

Enter GLADD, the premier LGBTQ+ advocacy non-profit in America, who with help from EveryLibrary have created aa free toolkit for community response and action in regards to Book Bans. 

I have copied the information and access link below. There is no library in America that should NOT download this FREE PDF, read it, and help share the information. Everyone is at risk for discrimination and book bans. My friend above, she is in a very Pride friendly community.

Click here to download the FREE PDF

Book Bans-- A Guide for Community Response and Action

The current story of book bans is interwoven with the story of the

skyrocketing number of legislative proposals targeting LGBTQ people 

and especially, transgender and nonbinary youth.

Like bills targeting health care, drag performance, pronouns and public

spaces, book bans baselessly and disingenuously purport to be about

protecting children and parents’ rights, when their true intent is aimed

at limiting the rising visibility and acceptance of LGBTQ

youth, and removing parents’ rights to make private health care

decisions for their families, or determine what their own children can

read.

According to the American Library Association, 2022 saw 1,269

documented demands to pull titles from library shelves, nearly

doubling the 729 challenges in 2021, an astounding 713% increase

fromthe previous year. The vast majority of these bans target books by

and about LGBTQ people and all people of color.

Now is the time for action. GLAAD created this guide for communities

to defeat book ban attempts, and send a powerful signal of welcome

and acceptance.

Download the toolkit here.

Also, don't forget my post from last week, "Pride Month Begins: Why You MUST Participate and Advice to Support LGBTQIA+ Authors All Year Long," which has more information and links to help you during