{"id":31219,"date":"2024-07-02T08:30:48","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T12:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=31219"},"modified":"2024-07-02T08:23:45","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T12:23:45","slug":"a-form-of-protest-the-stonewall-book-awards-at-alaac24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2024\/07\/a-form-of-protest-the-stonewall-book-awards-at-alaac24\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cA Form of Protest\u201d: The Stonewall Book Awards at #alaac24"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dearest Gentle Reader,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I eat at the same Thai restaurant<\/a> for the fourth time during #alaac24 (no regrets!), string covers of Top 40 hits<\/a> playing in the background, I feel like I\u2019m in Shonda Rhimes\u2019 Mayfair<\/a>. This is because I just spent the afternoon at the Stonewall Book Awards<\/a> amongst “The Ton<\/a>\u201d of LGBTQIA+ literary creators.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Every one of the 20-plus 2024 Stonewall Book Awards honorees and winners<\/a> was invited to offer remarks. And while this may sound tedious in the abstract, I\u2019ve never laughed and cried so much with a group of strangers as I did this afternoon. Across speeches\u2014even those by creators of adult literature\u2014the common theme was that libraries always have been and must remain safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ children and youth, especially those at the intersection of other marginalized identities.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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The program for this year\u2019s Stonewall Book Awards alongside <\/em>Not He or She, I’m Me, a 2024<\/em> Stonewall Honor Book in Children\u2019s and Young Adult Literature. Creators who attended this year\u2019s awards signed copies of their work after the ceremony. (Photo courtesy of K. Taksier)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This is critical in a climate where\u2014as noted by Not He or She, I’m Me<\/em> author A.M. Wild\u2014the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is tracking a record 527 anti-LGBTQIA+ bills across the United States<\/a>. A climate in which picture books like Not He or She, I’m Me<\/em> are \u201ca form of protest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you do to maintain safe spaces for the LGBTQIA+ children you serve? Drop a line in the comments below or at ktaksier@ufl.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yours Truly,
Kelley<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Conference Blogger Kelley Taksier<\/strong> (they\/them\/theirs) is a former classroom teacher pursuing a PhD in special education at the University of Florida. Currently their research focuses on students\u2019 access to texts in public schools. As a part of this work, they collaborate with school librarians, who encouraged them to join and attend ALA! They are looking forward to connecting with more school librarians at their first ALA conference in between enjoying all the vegan food San Diego has to offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dearest Gentle Reader, As I eat at the same Thai restaurant for the fourth time during #alaac24 (no regrets!), string covers of Top 40 hits playing in the background, I feel like I\u2019m in Shonda Rhimes\u2019 Mayfair. This is because I just spent the afternoon at the Stonewall Book Awards amongst “The Ton\u201d of LGBTQIA+ literary creators.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":397,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[2746,61,134,151],"tags":[2818],"class_list":["post-31219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ala-annual-2024","category-diversity","category-guest-blogger","category-live-blogging","tag-stonewall-book-awards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}