Representative Library Collections as a Response to the Institutional Oppression of LGBTQ Youth of Color

Abstract

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color are frequently subject to forms of institutional oppression that shape their lives. Institutional forces are rarely mentioned in research on library services to youth. This project examines one possibility for creating more meaningful library services that acknowledge how state power and publishing trends limit access to meaningful representation for LGBTQ and gender non-conforming youth of color. It begins with the synthesis of ongoing campaigns for greater diversity in young adult literature; critical theoretical approaches to race, gender, and sexuality; and the needs identified by adults working for a critically situated community drop-in youth center for LGBTQ youth. Using a case study set in Oakland, California, the research focuses on how representative library materials might be positioned in culturally sensitive community spaces as one way to address the histories of exclusion and invisibility that have informed public library practice in the U.S.