#Queering the stacks

[mossworth]

I was actually scrolling back to find this exact suggestion!

Unfortunately, I wish it were that easy. I can't speak for every library, but I know mine has no system in place to log the use of books other than their pure check-in/check-out statistics. We're pretty good for our area, but we're not big enough to justify the cost or time such a process would entail. I get a little moment of gladness as a librarian when I see that queer books have been left in a reading nook, or put on the "to be shelved" pile, but otherwise just taking them off the shelves doesn't do anything for our numbers (at my library). They must be checked out. Read? I would say so because I personally think these materials *should* be read. But, we don't have any way to keep up with that, either. The books are just paper and ink, and mercifully, cannot track your reading progress. So even if you just check them out and hold them for a few days or weeks for the sake of helping the circulation numbers, that's enough!

Keep this in mind for online materials, as well! You can't get to the library? Your phone can! And, hell, see if your library has a homebound program. Mine does. It's a whole second staff specifically dedicated to delivering materials to the homes of those with chronic disabilities that might otherwise prevent them from coming out.

TL;DR - Logging of books taken off the shelves isn't universal. To ensure materials are kept, especially in smaller systems, they have to be checked out. Also, check out what other resources your library offers (homebound, audio, braille, large print, dvd, music disc, online versions of EVERYTHING, etc)! We WANT to be accessible to you!

Guys, queers. Specifically my fellow queers.

I work at a library. We do this thing where, every so often, we weed the collection. It hurts to see books go, but it's necessary to make sure there's room in the library for new materials.

I have seen so much support for the library in text, and I've seen folks pass around those beautiful "queer your library" flyers. Keep doing that. That's great. Nothing wrong with that. But you HAVE to turn your words into action. We MUST remember to actually go to our local organizations and libraries and actually, with our own fucking hands, interact with these materials we want to see more of.

My branch is medium-sized for a library, maybe a little small. We don't have as many materials as I'd like, but we have fundamentals. Tell me why, even with all the verbal support I've gotten from my local community for the library as a resource for our LGBT+ community, every single trans biography and a good chunk of our vaguely queer theory books were on the list. This isn't a scheme to take the books off the shelves, it isn't another bigoted American governmental push. The only thing we look at when we weed is how long it's been since the last time the item was checked out.

Three years.

No one in my community interacted in any meaningful way with the few books on trans life and history we physically had on the shelves for three fucking years.

I promise you the materials you want and need are there, but this isn't a horde. This isn't a static safety net. You have to use them. You MUST use them or, in the future, maybe in three years, they *won't* be there anymore.

This isn't a vague post, there's no one person I'm hinting at or calling out. I'm not even talking directly to anyone who's directly in my line of sight. I just want everyone to hear this. Big library, small library, whatever. Doesn't matter. Please, we cannot be losing our shelf visibility like this.

[bri-cheeses]

personally I think that all queer books should have a “special edition” with a subtle cover (and a code name if it’s necessary) for all of the people in homophobic areas

[edgymegatronus]

Happiest MTMTE Ships :

[bookishfreedom]

Q: what’s black and white and queer all over?

A: this book stack!!

[franticvampirereads]

This was so cozy and warm that I didn’t want it to ever end! I loved the sleepy little beach town, the bookshop, the bakery, just… everything about this book made my heart so happy. Getting to see a younger Viv finding her footing in the world and planting the seeds for a far off dream was one of those things that really made this book shine. I loved getting to see Viv defying expectations and making friends and falling in love. This is the kind of book that you can curl up with a cup of tea and a snack and just get lost with in its pages for hours. Bookshops & Bonedust is getting a solid four and half stars!

[saym0-0]

happy pride from these robot girlies!!

[fanzines]

Excellent article about queer and trans zines in the Twin Cities, United States. Read: 'Advocates hope new Twin Cities zine fest kindles interest in queer, trans art'.

[knotwerk]

these books. all the poems featured in the proper hydration series are in these books.

(book titles under the cut)

Water I Won't Touch - Kayleb Rae Candrilli

Say Goodnight - Timothy Liu

The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde

The Poems of Emily Dickinson: Reading Edition

Mules of Love - Ellen Bass

Love and Other Poems - Alex Dmitrov

Space Struck - Paige Lewis

Evidence - Mary Oliver

A Shorter Shīrazād - Michael Field

The Renunciations - Donika Kelly

Prelude to Bruise - Saeed Jones

Ceremonies - Essex Hemphill

Gephyromania - TC Tolbert

Dispatch - Cameron Awkward-Rich

Like A Beggar - Ellen Bass

Frank O'Hara: Selected Poems

Effort at Speech - William Meredith

Dream of the Divided Field - Yanyi

Crush - Richard Siken

Not Me - Eileen Myles

Night Sky With Exit Wounds - Ocean Vuong

Ahead of All Parting: The Selected Poetry and Prose of Rainer Maria Rilke

How to Wash a Heart - Bhanu Kapil

Amanda Paradise ★ Resurrect Extinct Vibration - CAConrad

Listen to the Golden Boomerang Return - CAConrad

New Life - Ana Božičević

Second Empire - Richie Hoffman

Haruko/Love Poems - June Jordan

The Collected Poems of A.E. Housman

If Not, Winter: Fragments of Sappho - Anne Carson

Swollening - Jason Purcell

🥬💜✨

[noahhawthorneauthor]

Some of my favorite books, and some I'd like to read ! 🏳️‍🌈📚

[daroachette]

[🌸] | y.na__ on instagram

can't read my dni banner? click on the alt text for a transcript of it so u can read it! (bc i realized i accidentally made the text too small 😭)

art credits on my DNI banner :3

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[somethingsomethingcomic]

gay and stupid

[bookishfreedom]

can’t believe june is ending but happy pride 🏳️‍🌈

[franticvampirereads]

June has been interesting, I’ve read some great books and some just okay ones and I had a DNF. So it’s been a bit of a grab bag this month, but that’s okay! Here’s what I read:

Prince’s Gambit 5⭐️ {review}

Three Meant To Be 4⭐️ {review}

Fence: Rise 4⭐️ {review}

For The Fans-DNF @ page 30 {vague reasoning why}

The Alpha’s Son 3.25⭐️ (changed rating) {review}

Lore Olympus vol 1 5 ⭐️ {review}

Washed Up With A Kraken 3.5 ⭐️ {review}

That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon -currently reading

On The Run -currently reading

My favorite books this month were Prince’s Gambit and Lore Olympus. Both were so good that I just couldn’t put them down.

[nariarts]

whore

experiment with collage

[clanima]

Raphael, from "The Bedlam Stacks"

After rereading "The Bedlam Stacks" I couldn't NOT draw these guys.

Trying to draw them based only on the book's informations was a fun exercise though!

[homerjacksons]

❤️🧡 Happy Lesbian Visibility Week 🤍🩷