Liberating Minds: The Stories and Professional Lives of Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Librarians and Their Advocates

by Norman G. Kester (Editor), Deborah Turner (Contributor)

In this work, over 30 librarians (such as James V. Carmichael, Jr., Sanford Berman, Martha E. Stone, Gerald Perry, Barbara Gomez and Martha Cornog) address gay and lesbian issues facing the profession, and in some cases offer their own stories of understanding their sexuality and its implications on their professional lives. Some of the issues addressed are the need to uphold intellectual freedom, challenging the censorship of gay materials in libraries, AIDS material in the library, the information needs of gay and lesbian patrons, collection development, and confronting homophobia.

Genres: Nonfiction, Queer

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1997

Reviews

[H. Givens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed. I could see it being really useful for research on the history of queer librarians, the GLBTF, etc., but not for general reading. Material on the then-current state of the profession is too dated to use now. The more personal pieces didn't move me, and for some I didn't understand the relevance at all.