LGBTQ Library Services, what would you like libraries to know?

[Rez]

I've been tapped to give a presentation in December (short notice, I know) to my entire county's library system on LGBTQ topics and how to better serve LGBTQ teens. I have plenty of data, statistics, articles from library publications, and personal experience to build a presentation, but that's often boring and impersonal. So... I would like to hear some stories and personal feedback related to your experiences with libraries, please.

If you could tell your library staff anything, what would you tell them?

What would make you more comfortable in the library or more likely to talk to a library staffer about LGBTQ materials?

Has a library worker ever helped you in a meaningful way? Or ever scared you off from library use? How so?

Have you ever taken a book from a book from a library without checking it out because you didn't feel safe?

What would you like to see more of in a library?

Would a separate LGBTQ section help you? Why or why not?

That's just some prompts if you want to use them, but feel free to say anything that comes to mind when you think about libraries.

Remember, if you don't feel comfortable answering in the thread, you can always send a private message to Kaje who can post here on your behalf, or you can message me privately. Nothing you post here or message will be put into my presentation without your express permission, but any feedback whatsoever will be a great help for me to form more general sentiments that I can pass on to my co-workers.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.