"Being a More Visible Support for LGBTQ* Communities – What Some Canadian Libraries are Doing to Promote LGBTQ* Services, Inclusivity, and Community Engagement" is Part 2 of "Nowhere to Turn, Nowhere to Go," representing a greatly expanded update from the previous version. Part 1 is a separate SlideShare file entitled "Library Service and Collection Policies and Strategies for Supporting LGBTQ* Communities." The core conviction is the same as for Part 1: Librarians are catalysts for social change and personal transformation. Part 2 shows in vibrant visual images what some Canadian libraries -- post-secondary and public -- are doing to support and promote LGBTQ* services. It also challenges viewers who are library service providers -- and at the same time it informs viewers who are library service users -- to address the question of: If there aren’t any now, how could you create LGBTQ* inclusive programs and services at your library? Suggestions for promotion and advocacy to support LGBTQ* communities are addressed, but they are just suggestions. Visuals and narratives in this presentation show what 15 Canadian libraries in these two sectors are doing to support LGTBQ* populations, from specialized collections and reading lists to Pride parade engagement to the creation of public library GSAs to myriad events, workshops, guest speakers, special celebrations, collaborations and partnerships, and library volunteer staff groups.

1. “Nowhere to Turn, Nowhere to Go”
Inclusive Library Services for LGBTQ* Minorities
Part 2: Being a More Visible Support for LGBTQ* Communities
Alvin M. Schrader, PhD
Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta, and Adjunct Professor, iSMSS

2. ~ email me at alvin.schrader@ualberta.ca with
suggested corrections and additions
This version has been expanded to incorporate recent
research and professional events.
It is divided into two separate SlideShare files:
1. Library Service and Collection Policies and Strategies for
Supporting LGBTQ* Communities
2. Being a More Visible Support for LGBTQ* Communities –
What Some Canadian Libraries are Doing to Promote LGBTQ*
Services, Inclusivity, and Community Engagement
Based on a presentation to the MLIS Course LIS 541
“LIS Services in Culturally Diverse Society,”
School of Library and Information Studies, University of Alberta
(Sept. 15, 2014), and revised from Slideshare Sept. 27, 2013 upload

3. This work is dedicated to those who
lost their way because they had
nowhere to turn, nowhere to go, and
to the librarians and the teachers
who give them hope
The presentation title comes from keynote speaker
Glen Murray, first gay mayor of Winnipeg, who told us
at the 2006 British Columbia Library Conference
about the importance of libraries to LGBTQ* youth
and about a boyhood friend who had committed
suicide when they were 14 years of age because there
was nowhere to turn, nowhere to go, to be able to talk
about his feelings and his fears.

4. Librarians are catalysts for
social change and
personal transformation.

5. PART 2
Being a more visible support for LGBTQ* communities – what
some Canadian libraries are doing to support and promote LGBTQ*
inclusivity in collections, services, and community engagement
5
Please send me information and visuals about your library’s LGBTQ*
policies, initiatives, programs, and events so that I can add them to this
presentation in future updates. alvin.schrader@ualberta.ca

6. If there aren’t any now, how could you
create LGBTQ* inclusive programs and
services at your library?

7. Promotion and Advocacy to Support LGBTQ* Communities
• Programming/Outreach Ideas
• LGBTQ* Author Events (Adult, Teen)
• Anti-Bullying Programming
• Teen LGBTQ* Book Club (Online)
• Story times for LGBTQ* Families
• Pride Month LGBTQ* Poetry Reading
• Contact your local high school's/middle
school’s GSA and offer to email booklists
and to come in and book talk
• Observe various celebratory LGBTQ* events
and Pride days/weeks/months, e.g., June is
National LGBTQ* Pride Month; October is
National LGBTQ* History Month; October 11
is National Coming Out Day
• Panel Discussion with LGBTQ* Leaders of
Different Faiths
• Booth at Pride Festival
• June 2015 is first ALA-sponsored
LGBTQ* Book Month
• LGBTQ* speed dating program
• Safe Space stickers
• Being visibly supportive as individuals
working the desk (lanyard buttons, etc)
• Face-out displays that include LGBTQ*
titles
• Booklists
• Same-sex picture books are Easy Fiction
– not Children’s Fiction or Parent’s
Resources – they’re for kids
• Be familiar with local organizations and
community groups
• Diversity and sensitivity staff training
• Be comfortable with variant terminology
- acknowledgement for most of these ideas to Emily Lloyd, “Serving Our GLBTQ Customers…” SlideShare
November 17, 2010, www.slideshare.net/elloyd74/serving-our-glbtq-customers-at-the-library

8. What some Canadian libraries are doing …
• Emily Carr University Library
• University of Victoria Library
• University of Western Ontario Pride
Library
• University of Saskatchewan Library
• Brockville Public Library
• Prince George Public Library
• Edmonton Public Library
• Edmonton Public Library and
Edmonton Public Schools
• Calgary Public Library
• New Westminster Public Library
• Kitimat Public Library
• Red Deer Public Library
• Surrey Public Library
• Vancouver Public Library
• Fraser Valley Regional Library
• Toronto Public Library

9. Emily Carr University Library – Pride 2013
9

10. University of Victoria Library
http://transgenderarchives.uvic.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/UVicTransArchives

11. University of Victoria Library
http://transgenderarchives.uvic.ca/
https://www.facebook.com/UVicTransArchives
The UVic Archives has been actively acquiring
documents, rare publications, and memorabilia of
persons and organizations associated with
transgender activism since 2007.

12. University of Western Ontario
Pride Library
12
~ established in 1977, first of its kind at a Canadian university (shared
catalogue access and housed in but independent of UWO Library)
~ a library, an archive, a social space, and a resource centre for academic
curricula
~ mandated to …
• make accessible information and materials by and about LGBTQ
communities
• foster LGBTQ studies at UWO across disciplinary and institutional
boundaries in a coalition-building environment
• counteract censorship on all fronts by making LGBTQ texts of all
kinds accessible in an academic context fostering dialogue,
debate, and criticism

13. University of Saskatchewan Library
Saskatchewan Resources for Sexual Diversity
13
Celebrating a history of diversity: lesbian and gay life in Saskatchewan, 1971 - 2006. A selected
annotated chronology, by Neil Richards, 2005-2006
Gay Canada: bibliography and videography, 1984-2008, comp. Alex Spence, rev. 2009
Perceptions: the first twenty-two years, 1983 – 2004: an index to the Canadian gay and lesbian
newsmagazine, comp. Alex Spence, 2005
University Archives and Special
Collections Resources
Saskatchewan theses of LGBT interest
Tykie's Comin Out by Jeffery Straker
AV and microfilm collections
Canadian gay and lesbian collection
Queer mystery and detective fiction
Gay, lesbian and transgender pulp literature

14. Brockville Public Library – Pride 2012, 2013, 2014

15. Brockville Public Library – Pride 2012, 2013, 2014

16. Brockville Public Library – GSA/QSA

17. Brockville Public Library – GSA/QSA
Events in Partnership with PFLAG 2012-2014
Spring 2012
- City-wide GSA, providing safe space and connecting students from the 3 local high schools;
inaugural Pride Week planning committee with representatives from PFLAG and Brockville City
Council; Pride Week potluck; LGBTQ Summer Reads list
Spring 2013
- youth initiated name change from GSA to QSA (Queer Straight Alliance) to 'take back' the term
'queer’; Youth Discussion Panel with local community service providers including Victim's
Services, school board trustees and teachers, and local government reps; Pride Week planning;
family game night and potluck; LGBTQ/Pride in-house display; LGBTQ Summer Reads List;
LGBTQ bibliographies available (not exhaustive
Spring 2014
- Youth Discussion Panel; QSA as a weekly Youth Drop-in with local CYW volunteer facilitator;
Pride Week planning involvement; Pride Week movie; LGBTQ/Pride in-house display
http://virtual.recorder.ca/doc/Brockville-Recorder-and-Times/brockville-this-week-july-
11/2013070901/22.html#22

18. Youth Initiative of the Year
Award, A Healthier You
Awards 2012
Programs and Services
Award, British Columbia
Library Association 2014
Prince George Public Library
Library Teen GSA Program Awards
“Library earns two awards,” Prince George Citizen, May 4, 2014
www.princegeorgecitizen.com/news/local/library-earns-two-awards-1.1020831
“A Teen Programming Success Story: Library Gay-Straight Alliance,” by Amy Dawley, YAACING,
Newsletter of the Young Adult and Children’s Services Section of BCLA, Winter 2014, pp. 11-12
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?pli=1#label/lgbtq/145f213043a70717?projector=1

19. Prince George Public Library – Pride 2014

20. Prince George Public Library – Pride 2014

21. Social activities, facilities
movie nights; board game night; visit to YMCA’s Youth Rec
Room; Karaoke night; Project Runway Fashion Challenge; visit
to Aquatic Centre for swimming night; crafting: locker magnets,
advocacy button making, collaborative art projects; murder
mystery night; gender neutral washroom
Groups, workshops, guest speakers, special celebrations
UNBC Pride Centre Society “Queer Representation in the
Media”; screening of “The Bully Project” and anti-bullying
discussion; trans youth presentation; Community Policing
presentation; Wendy Young Community Arts Council fused
glass pendant; Tess Healy “Queer Youth in History”
presentation; sexual health workshop by Mary Jackson;
“Reaching Out: Suicide Prevention and Awareness” workshop
by Crisis Centre; presentation by Councillor Murry Krause;
Prince George Public Library
GSA Events 2013-2014
Masqueerade Teen Dance in October; Christmas celebration; Parents of Gender Creative
Children support group; Gender creative parent and child support group drop-in program,
http://www.lib.pg.bc.ca/content/gender-creative-parent-child-support-group

22. Edmonton Public Library – Pride 2014
22
~ 700 people visited the 2014 EPL Pride booth
~ 100+ people went to the 2014 EPL craft station family event
~ LGBTQ* Speed Dating program

23. Edmonton Public Library – Pride 2014
23

24. Edmonton Public Library – Makerspace 2015
24

25. Edmonton PL and Edmonton Public Schools –
Resource Guide (2nd ed. 2014)
25

26. Calgary Public Library – Pride 2012
26

27. New Westminster Public Library – Pride 2014
27
- new reading list (4th yr.)
- lecture on the new
Archives of Lesbian
Oral Testimony
housed at Simon
Fraser University
- front lobby display case
- LGBTQ titles
acquisitions

28. New Westminster Public Library – Pride 2014
28

29. Kitimat Public Library – Pride 2014
29

30. Red Deer Public Library – “Youth Pride Fridays”
30
“Hello Everyone! I am the Teen Services Librarian at Red Deer Public Library.
Every second Friday, we host a youth Pride meet up here in the mezz (Teens
at RDPL). Everyone aged 'early-teen to early-20's' is welcome. It's a really fun,
inclusive hangout (games, food, friendship, fun). No registration necessary,
and a library card is not needed to attend.” – Amy Lynn, Facebook, 2015

31. Fraser Valley Regional Library – Activities
31
The 25 libraries in 15 FVRL member municipalities
are at the early stages of implementing and
participating in LGBTQ initiatives. Activities so far
include:
Staff workshops on LGBTQ people – 230
participants in four workshops that covered
language, concepts, raising awareness of
management and library services staff
Readers advisory workshops on Teen and Tween
GBLTQ fiction for FVRL staff
Many FVRL libraries display “Never Assume” or
rainbow stickers/posters
Many FVRL libraries had PRIDE displays during
PRIDE week.

32. Surrey Public Library – Pride 2014
32
LGBTQIA Reads
Get your read on at the
library today!
w w w . s u r r e y l i b r a r i e s . c a

33. Surrey Public Library – Pride 2014
33
http://www.surreylibraries.ca/resear
ch/5430.aspx
GLBTQI
Resources on the
SPL website

34. Vancouver Public Library – Pride 2014
34

35. Vancouver Public Library – Pride 2014
35

36. Vancouver Public Library – Pride 2014
36

37. Vancouver Public Library – Pride 2014
37

38. Vancouver Public Library – Pride 2014
38

39. Vancouver Public Library
39

40. Toronto Public Library – World Pride 2014
Yorkville Branch

41. Toronto Public Library – World Pride 2014

42. Toronto Public Library – World Pride 2014

43. Toronto PL – World Pride 2014

44. Toronto PL – World Pride 2014

45. Toronto PL – World Pride 2014

46. Toronto PL – World Pride 2014
17 events “Welcoming the World to Pride,” May 7-June 28
Sexual diversity and the Sochi Olympics
Branded by the Pink Triangle
Singing Out—Pride. Music. Belonging.
The Rainbow Railroad: Fleeing Anti-Gay Persecution
Gerrard Ashdale Library presents… Comedy Night at Lazy Daisy’s Café
A Defining Moment for Gay and Lesbian Activism: Toronto in the 1970s
World Pride Comedy Night
Kamal Al-Solaylee: 2013 Toronto Book Award Winner
A Night with Sky Gilbert
Shyam Selvadurai
50 Years of Toronto Pride
LGBTQ Literary Speed Dating (ages 19-35)
Fashioning LGBTQ Identity: Visibility, Representation and Community
The Science of Gaydar: Making Sense of Sexual Orientation from Limited
Perceptual Cues
Book Club: World Pride Edition
LGBTQ Film Evening
Rainbow Family Stories

47. Toronto PL Pride Alliance – Terms of Reference
TPL Pride Alliance is a volunteer-run group of employees. Membership is open to
but not limited to staff who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
transsexual, intersex, 2-spirited, queer, questioning and their allies.
Vision: A work force that promotes, celebrates, and values diversity.
Values: TPL Pride Alliance champions the following values: Equality. Inclusiveness.
Respect. Transparency.
Goals and Objectives:
1. To support and promote a workforce that reflects our city’s diverse communities.
2. To support an inclusive environment in the Toronto Public Library for LGBT
employees and their allies.
Priorities: 1) Provide social and networking support for staff; 2) Increase and foster
awareness of LGBT issues; 3) Plan and execute TPL Pride Alliance
presence in the annual Pride Toronto celebrations.
- approved by TPL Directors HR November 2012

48. In a separate SlideShare file, see…
PART 1
Library service and collection policies and strategies
for supporting LGBTQ* communities in international
and national contexts, including extensive
professional resources in all media
48

49. ~ To my colleagues who guided me to useful research and
who patiently reviewed earlier drafts – Sandra Anderson,
Michael Brundin, Toni Samek, and another who must,
sadly, remain anonymous for security reasons.
~ To all of the library staff across Canada who shared with
me information and images about their library initiatives
to support LGBTQ* communities. My hats off to you!
~ To Toni Samek, a special thanks for giving me the
opportunity to develop and present my ideas over
several years to her graduate seminar.
~ And to my life partner and best friend Tony Thai, who
makes my research work worthwhile.
WITH THANKS!
49