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Reminder to request queer books from your libraries!
And hey.
Check them out.
Libraries have limited shelf space. If the books don't get checked out or don't get checked out often enough, the can be 'weeded' as unnecessary.
Borrow books you've already read. Put them on the reshelve cart to show in library use. Ask the librarians if they can recommend something else 'like this.'
Every librarian I have ever met is willing to march into hell with a baseball bat and a smile that could cut steel to defend their patrons right to access info. But you make that INFINITELY easier for them if they have numbers.
If they can say, wow, this section has a lot of turnover, we can fight to keep it in the budget. This program got a turnout, we need more like it. This display keeps getting emptied, it needs to be expanded.
Give them the tools to fight with. Use your library. Support your library. Join the Friends, attend events, suggest events, ask for books, use Hoopla and Libby and Canva and everything they're spending their budget on. Go to the book sale, go to the website, go to town/city meeting if you have that ability.
Be a patron. The books you request could save someone you may never meet.
Whenever a new banned book list comes around, I add all the books to my hold list for my library. That way the library will either order the book or put in a loan request from a neighboring library that already has it.
I admit rarely read them all simply because many are not to my taste as I'm extremely narrow in my reading. But I always keep a book for a few days before returning it, and then request a new one from the list.
I can't fork over the money to purchase these books myself, but I can ensure they get checked out in our library system and give them a better chance of staying on the shelves longer.
And if there is an LGBTQIA book I desperately want and no library in our system has it, I'll purchase it. I've got a good relationship with the circulation librarian in my town and if I ship the book directly to her, she'll add it to their system, and I'll just check it out. This is a win-win for both of us. She gets a new book at no cost to the library and I get to read a book I really want but don't have room for at home.
Also, I recommend using Libby, Hoopla, or whatever Ebook system your library has. The more it gets used, the more money they are allocated to support it in the future.
And that goes for all Library services. The more traffic a service gets, the more money they are allocated for it in the future.
If you don't know what your library offers, go inside and ask. Every librarian I've ever met loves to help and answer questions. And some libraries have the coolest and most esoteric things on offer.
So try to support all the services your library has to offer!
