The Daring Librarian

Book Display • Books • Resources • Rant   Two blog posts in a row about our Library being a Safe Space for our LGBTQIA+ kiddos. Why? Because we're aggressively passionate about being allies to our kids. Also, the news is chock full of alarming examples where parents, school districts, and communities are NOT supporting the freedom to read. The democratic freedom to give ALL kids the choice to find books without censorship or barriers. It boils my blood! Why does it seem like we're going backwards with FREADom to read? So, I wanted to give you (dear reader!) an example of our Pride Month book display, our list of Fiction books, and how we promote it to our kiddos. Most of this post is copied from our Daring School Library Blog , Instagram posts , & what I shared through our Canvas community announcement. One of my most respected Library friends, Laura C. Davies (LOVE her!) who I met when I was keynoting the ASTE Tech Conference in Anchorage Alaska had this to say on my In...

Our Middle School Library in Laurel, Maryland has been a loud and proud Safe Space and Ally for ALL of our  LGBTQIA and Neurodivergent students for years. We have purchased every well reviewed, requested, intriguing, and middle school approved fiction and non-fiction book on these topics. I daresay we have one of the largest collections around! We have Safe Space signs around, a rainbow narwhal (pictured above) and groupings of books on display all the time. I have also blogged about our support of our diverse communities. Dear Queer Teen - It Gets Better! - 2012  Create a Safe Space - 2018 BUT... I have strong opinions about putting a Genre label on these books. I am really cognizant that some of my Middle Schoolers are curious or questioning to learn more about but aren't ready to out themselves. To their peers and to their parents. This is yet another reason I'm against Genrefication. I know, among some of my other Future Ready Librarians this is a controversial topic....

This is not something new. Our School Library has always been a safe space for kiddos of all kinds. Our wonderful Middle School community is a rich tapestry of many woven threads, rich colors, diverse backgrounds, orientations, expressions, many abilities and kids from many lands speaking many languages. Laurel, Maryland is right smack dab between Washington DC and Baltimore - it's like our school has always been a mini United Nations. I love that about us! And our School Library has always enjoyed being a draw and a safe landing spot for kids who are quirky, nerdy, bookish, geeky, techie, queer, gay, trans, wordy, dramatic, creative, alternative, and cool. That's why I thought it was important and reassuring to have a sign that proclaimed that we are a Safe Space or a Safe Zone right on our front doors and right by our check out desk! What is a Safe Space? According to the Safe Space Network, “A Safe Space is a place where anyone can relax and be able to fully express...

A few of my MHMS friends & colleagues are taking a Cultural Proficiency course. Having taken that course a couple years ago, and as a passionate ally of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement, I offered to help them with their final project! We decided it would cool to create a curated list of books on a bookmark that celebrate diversity. Feel free to Take, Copy, Use, & Share - it's all Creative Commons! We made sure that the books listed were all books we had in our Middle School Library Collection and were ones that were sourced from the WeNeedDiverseBooks website . But you can do the same thing or use ours! See below for downloads.    You can download the Diversity- Diversity-Bookmarks-PDF OR you can make a copy of copy of the Google Doc!