Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors: Exploring the 2020 Rainbow Book List

Abstract

Being familiar with the Rainbow Book List is one easy way for librarians to support the LGBTQ+ community and address the American Library Association’s (ALA) Response to Service for LGBTQ+ People.

As stated on their website: “Libraries can serve lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LBGTQ) people by ensuring that this population is reflected in library collections and provided with services at the library. It further states, “As a population which is often the subject of discrimination and harassment, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people can benefit from the access to information which libraries provide and the sense of community which library programs can help foster. It is important to note that the LGBTQ population is diverse, spanning age groups, ethnic and racial groups, socio-economic groups, and personal identities.”