podddcasttt:
Friendly reminder that if you talk about how representation is important and how there’s not enough diverse media, I implore you to seek out the media that already exists. And if you live in an area with a public library, go to see if they’re available at your public library. And then go check them out.
As a librarian, it is demoralizing to see how low the circulation statistics are on lgbt+ books and books by BIPOC authors. I include them in displays and readers advisory, but people still don’t check them out as much. Libraries only have a finite amount of resources, including space. We don’t get a book then keep it forever. If not enough people check it out, we have to get rid of it to make room for more books. And when James Patterson Book #69 gets checked out 30 times in one year and cool, subversive Sci fi novel with a Black trans woman main character has never been checked out once, the librarian (me) has to make a hard decision.
If you’re looking for something tangible and easy to do this pride month, look for lgbt+ books (there are millions of lists online that you can find. It’s easier than it’s ever been to find diverse books) and check them out from your library.
No time to read? Look for a short story or poetry anthology and just read as much as you have time for. Or just check out a book cus it looks interesting and read as much as you can. We have movies too.
As cool as it would be for me to just keep the books I want and get rid of the ones I don’t, I have to listen to the community on matters of collection development. And the community tells me what books they want by checking them out and leaving the ones they don’t want on the shelf.
If you think this doesn’t apply to you because you live in a progressive area and obviously the books are being checked out, you’re wrong. I once worked in a community with a large lgbt population. Those books were not getting checked out. If you want to tell me you live in a conservative area and your library doesn’t have any diverse books, you are legally obligated to check the catalog before replying to this post. I currently work in a conservative community and we have lgbt+ and bipoc books. And if you still cannot find any, you are legally obligated to see if your library has a collection request form that patrons can fill out before replying to this post.
If your library doesn’t have the diverse books you want and you’re comfortable talking with (usually very friendly and helpful) people, you can also talk with someone on staff. In addition to the purchase recommendation form, they may have an agreement with other libraries to borrow the books from them for you. This helps two libraries! Your local library learns that more people want diverse books, so they are more likely to buy them in the future. The other library gets check-outs, so they know people are reading their diverse books.
If you don’t have time to read, look for diverse audiobooks, CDs, and DVDs! If it’s hard for you to get to the library, look at their website or call/email them. They may have pickup lockers in different areas of town or even a delivery service. They probably have eBooks, eAudiobooks, and/or streaming music and movies that you can check out from home.
(via scifigrl47)
libraries
books
diverse books