Week 14 Prompt- Separating LGBTQ and African-American genres

  

When reading these articles and considering this issue, the line that really stood out to me was, "'oh hidden in here is an agenda that is popular, but we as conservative Christians say no, we're not going along with that'". (Lenzini)  What strikes me as disturbing about this line of thinking is that, somehow, writing about LGBTQ issues as seen as agenda-pushing or somehow trying to persuade people in one way or another.  My counter to this, either out loud or in my mind, is something to the effect of  "so, are books about Hitler pushing a Nazi agenda?", and so forth.  Labeling, censoring, excluding, warning people of content-these are all slippery-slope scenarios in which someone can and will always find something they find offensive and try to make it invisible.  I think what most people don't really understand is how contrary this line of thinking is to the library code of ethics, to free speech, to freedom of information.  Agendas have no place in a library, whether they are for or against a particular issue.  The best way I can articulate this is through my refrain that I used while working in a school, during election season.  I had many kids ask me who I was voting for and why, and my reply was always "my job is to inform, not to indoctrinate".  As an educator, and especially as a librarian, it was my job to provide unbiased information, to make sure that students had access to any information that would help them make an informed decision on their own.  Libraries are (or rather, they should be), places where anyone can find information on anything they want.  As a parent, I can certainly see the flip side to this argument.  There are plenty of things I think my kids are too young to read about, etc.  But it is MY job, as a parent, to screen what they read, if I wish.  If my kids pick out books that I am concerned about, I flip through and make a choice (more often than not, I let them read what they want, but its's an important point to illustrate).  But I want my kids to be able to form their own opinions and develop their own moral compass, not just spit out what I have taught them is my own belief system. 

As far as labeling and separating African-American books,  I pretty much feel the same way.  When I worked in a public library, we had 2 small branch locations apart from the main library.  The main library and the branch location in the mostly white, affluent part of the city did not have special sections for African-American authors.  However, the branch location in what could be deemed the "inner-city" of Springfield, with a much more diverse population, had it's own separate African-American section.  It REALLY bothered me, and I wondered aloud several times over the years who had made that decision.  No one really knew, it had just always been that way.  In some way, I felt like it was this extra reminder of segregation in an already segregated part of town.  The cool thing about having skilled readers advisors on staff is having someone who can help patrons find exactly what they are looking for without having to go to a special section.  If someone is looking for African-American authors, LGBTQ-themed books, and they don't know where to start, the best tool is having an open, friendly, easily accessible readers advisor to help them.  And this of course goes with ANY genre or topic.  People should feel free and comfortable to roam and browse in a library all they want, find what they are looking for, discover something new, at their leisure and in private of they so choose.  They should also have access to excellent reference and readers advisory services if they can't find what they need.   

All this being said, I am not a member of the LGBTQ community, nor am I African-American.  I can only give my thoughts and feelings on how libraries should work, ethically and intellectually. 

Works cited

Lenzini, Jennifer. “Orange City, IA Public Library to Test Trial-Run of Separately Labeling Books with LGBTQ Themes.” HOME - KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports, 20 Mar. 2018, www.ktiv.com/story/37771686/2018/03/Tuesday/orange-city-ia-public-library-to-separately-label-books-with-lgbtq-themes.