[kids-lib] 3 tips on how libraries can better serve transgender youth

[Katie Anderson]

Another informative blog post by ALA’s Association for Library Services to Children. Read the full post here: http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2014/06/gender/

How can libraries better serve transgender youth?

1.       Make books available for trans youths and their parents who may or may not be struggling with a child’s transition. There have been a couple of books for younger readers and their parents. In 2009, a Seattle mother, Cheryl Kilodavis, wrote a picture book called My Princess Boy: A Mom’s Story About a Young Boy Who Loves to Dress Up. Last fall a Southern California mother, Lori Duron, wrote Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Slightly Effeminate, Possibly Gay, Totally Fabulous Son based on her blog of the same name.  (Fran Fried)

2.       Treat the trans books the same way you would any other books–place them in the stacks as you would any nontrans literature and let people find them… A little subtlety goes a lot further than neon arrows. (Fran Fried)

3.       One simple thing we can do is to add a space on library card applications for “preferred name.” Not enough room on the form for this extra line? Omit the gender question. (Rebecca Chapin)


Katie Anderson, Library Development Services
* Youth Services Consultant * Oregon Center for the Book Coordinator *
Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301
katie.anderson at state.or.us<mailto:katie.anderson at state.or.us>, 503-378-2528

[Fizz Boom Read][Girlandcloud]
Summer Reading 2014 at Oregon libraries<http://libdir.osl.state.or.us/>!
Find a summer food site<http://www.summerfoodoregon.org/>.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/kids-lib/attachments/20140609/0e3db4d7/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3127 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/kids-lib/attachments/20140609/0e3db4d7/attachment.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2117 bytes
Desc: image004.jpg
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/kids-lib/attachments/20140609/0e3db4d7/attachment-0001.jpg>