RRT Programs

2013 - Chicago

Safe in the Stacks: Community Spaces for Serving Homeless LGBTQ Youth

• Dr. Julie Winkelstein, Librarian, Writer, Advocate.

• Jama Shelton, Director, Forty to None Project, True Colors Fund, New York City.
• Bonnie Wade, Director, TransLife Program at Chicago House
• Jama Shelton, Forty to None Project Director, True Colors Fund
• Bonnie Wade, TransLife Center Director, Chicago House
• Young Person from the TransLife Center at Chicago House
• Nate Metrick, Crib Coordinator, The Night Ministry

Access denied! Filtering: Trouble, Tyranny, and Triumph

Internet filtering is a touchy issue that libraries have had to deal with as major sources of internet access for many of our users. Join us to explore the legal climate of filters, how they work and other implications of their use. As well, we’ll explore the “Don’t Filter Me” program of the ACLU. Speakers: Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Deputy Director, Office of Intellectual Freedom; Sarah Houghton, Director for the San Rafael Public Library; Tony Rothert, Legal Director, ACLU of Eastern Missouri.

2012 - Anaheim

Coming Out in Print: The LGBT Literary Landscape Today

Fabulous Havens: Libraries as Safe Spaces for the Needs of LGBT Youth

2011 - New Orleans

Out of the Closet & Into the Library: LGBTQ Programming

Monday, June 27, 2011, 4:00pm - 5:30pm, New Orleans Convention Center, Rm 285.

Program will feature library workers' experience creating library programs that address the needs of LGBTQ users, such as Pride-themed events. Success stories, community controversies and practical advice will be shared.

Speaker: Bleue Benton, Oak Park Public Library
Speaker: Jennifer Teitelbaum, Lemon Grove Public Library
Speaker: Jim Patterson, Northwestern Connecticut Community College
Speaker: Lise Dyckman, California Institute of Integral Studies

Vampirism Just Got A Little More Colorful: Queer Vampires

Sunday, June 26, 2011 - 1:30pm - 3:30pm, New Orleans Convention Center, Rm 285.  Speaker: Dean James, The TMC Library.  Vampire literature has enjoyed a huge upswing in popularity in recent years, mostly due to such works as the "Twilight" series and "Let the Right One In." In this program we explore the experiences of LGBTQ vampires and their authors. 

2010 - Washington D.C.

Queer Teens: LGBTQ Young Adult Novels

Monday, June 28 from 4:00–5:30 pm, the program features noted authors of LGBTQ young adult literature, including Steve Berman, Lisa Jahn-Clough, and Julie Anne Peters. The session will be held in the Washington Convention Center, Room 152A

Steve Berman sold his first short story at age seventeen. Since then he has released nearly 100 articles, essays, and works of fiction. His gay novel, Vintage, was a finalist for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. He edited the anthology, Magic in the Mirrorstone, which featured work by several acclaimed YA authors (Holly Black, Cecil Castellucci, Cassandra Clare, among others). Recent short story sales include a lesbian retelling of the Swan Lake story for The Beastly Bride and a gay vampire story for the forthcoming Teeth. He is a past judge of the Cybil Awards and reviews book for GuysLitWire. He resides in New Jersey.

Lisa Jahn-Clough is the author of the YA novels, Country Girl,City Girl and Me, Penelope, and the author/illustrator of a dozen picture books including Alicia Has a Bad Day, My Friend and I, and Little Dog.  Lisa has taught writing for children at Emerson College, Vermont College, and the Maine College of Art. She is currently on the faculty at Hamline University's Low-Residency MFA in Writing For Children and Young Adults program. Her next book, A Tale Of Two Bunnies, comes out in 2011. Lisa lives in Savannah, GA and Portland, ME.

Julie Anne Peters is the author of 17 books for young adults and children. Her YA novel, Luna, the story of a transgender teen beginning her transition from male to female, was a National Book Award Finalist and an American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults. Her other books about gender queer youth include Rage: A Love Story, grl2grl: short fictions, Between Mom and Jo, Far from Xanadu, and Keeping You a Secret. By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead is her newest YA title. She Loves You, She Loves You Not will be published in the spring of 2011. Ms. Peters is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Pen America, the Authors Guild, and the Colorado Authors’ League. She lives in Lakewood, Colorado with her partner, Sherri Leggett.  More information about Peters and her books can be found on the Web at:  www.JulieAnnePeters.com

Rainbow Hollinger Box program highlights LGBTQ Archives

Held on Sunday, June 27 from 1:30–3:30 pm, the three-member panel, featuring Philip Clark, of the Rainbow History Project; Steven G. Fullwood of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; and Rebecka Sheffield, a Doctoral Student of University of Toronto’s Faculty of Information, discussed their unique perspectives on the issues faced by LGBTQ archivists.

Philip Clark serves on the board of directors and was recently appointed vice-chair for the Rainbow History Project, Washington D.C.’s GLBT history organization.  He is the editor (with David Groff) of the anthology “Persistent Voices: Poetry by Writers Lost to AIDS” (Alyson, 2009).  His essays and other writing have appeared in such works as The Oxford “Companion to the Photograph” (Oxford UP, 2005), “50 Gay and Lesbian Books Everybody Must Read” (Alyson, 2009), “The Golden Age of Gay Fiction”  (MLR, 2009), and “The Lost Library: Gay Fiction Rediscovered” (Haiduk, 2010).  He is currently at work on a research project about H. Lynn Womack, the Guild Press, and notions of community in the pre-gay liberation era; he will shortly be looking for a Ph.D program interested in supporting this research.

Steven G. Fullwood is an archivist at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library. He is the project director for the Black Gay & Lesbian Archive. His chapter, "Always Queer, Always Here: Creating the Black Gay and Lesbian Archive in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture," is included in the anthology, “Community Archives: The Shaping of Memory” (edited by Jeannette A. Bastian and Ben Alexander). He is the co-editor of “Think Again” (with Colin Robinson), co-editor of “To Be Left With the Body” (with Cheryl Clarke) and the founder and publisher of Vintage Entity Press. Fullwood’s essays and criticism have appeared in Library Journal, Black Issues Book Review, Vibe,  and Lambda Book Report . “Funny,” his book of cultural criticism, was published in 2004.

Rebecka Sheffield is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with the The Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies. She holds an undergraduate degree in Women's and Gender Studies from the University of Saskatchewan and a post-graduate certificate in Book & Magazine Publishing from the Centre for Creative Communication at Centennial College. Her most recent project attempts to insert the queer archives into the task of building a positive genealogy of queer identity that is more inclusive of the contributions of past communities. Rebecka has been a volunteer at the Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives (CLGA) since 2007 and serves on the Community Engagement Committee.

2009 - Chicago

What Makes Tango So Scary?
Serving Your Whole Library Population, Intellectual Freedom, and Censorship of LGBT Children's Books

A panel discussed the background and history of challenged children's books featuring GLBT characters and themes; the value and importance of including and making use of these books in the library collection; facing challenges to these materials; and self-censorship among librarians in building such collections. This event was co-sponsered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), Intellectual Freedom Round Table (IFRT) and the Social Responsibalities Round Table (SRRT).

Special Guests were the authors of this children's book "And Tango Makes Three," Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. Parnell is a playwright and television writer who successfully turned his hand to children’s literature with "And Tango Makes Three." Richardson is an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia and Cornell universities.

Presenters

• Carolyn Caywood, Librarian, Bayside Special Services Library, Virginia Beach, VA discussed the history of censorship of LGBT themed children's materials.
• Jamie LaRue, Director of Douglas County Libraries, CO spoke about effectively defending challenges to library materials.
• Victor Schill, Branch Librarian, Fairbanks Branch Library, Houston, TX spoke about the importance and use of such materials in the library collection.
• John Andrews, Librarian, Washoe County Library, Reno, NV discussed internal censorship on the part of librarians concerned with avoiding book challenges and controversy.

Forty Years Since Stonewall

A celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. Author and historian, Dr. John D'Emilio, Professor of Gender & Women's Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago, whose books have twice won the Stonewall Book Award, discussed this seminal event in GLBT history and the impact it has had since then. This program was co-sponsored by the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History, an affiliate of the American Historical Association.

2008 - Anaheim

• Coming Out at Work: 20 Years Later
• GLBT Graphic Novels and Comics

2007 - Washington, D.C.

• Addressing the Information Needs of Female-to-Male Transsexuals (FTMs)
• Aging Issues for GLBT Patrons

2006 - New Orleans

• Drag Kings of New Orleans: Documenting Cultural History

2005 - Chicago

• Addressing the Information Needs of the Transgendered Community

2004 - Orlando

• Excavating the Queer Past: Collecting, Preserving, and Researching GLBT History
• Families Like Ours: Non-Traditional American Families

2003 - Toronto

• The Glass Closet: Queers in High Places
• In Jeopardy? The Freedom to Read and Write GLBT Literature

2002 - Atlanta

• In Denial: HIV/AIDS Prevention Information Issues in Libraries

2001 - San Francisco

• We Are Family: Exploring Service to GLBT Children and Parents

2000 - Chicago

• Preconference: Gay Teens in the 21st Century: Access for the Future
• Is There Anything in the Library for Me? The Challenges of Serving the GLBT Young Adult Community

1999 - New Orleans

• Daring to Save Our History: Gay and Lesbian Archives

1998 - Washington D. C.

• What Have You Done for Me Lately? Lesbian and Gay Youth Speak Out

1997 - San Francisco

• No KIDin' Around: Womyn's Press in the New Millenium

1996 - New York

• What About the Side Streets? Reaching Underserved Populations

1995 - Chicago

• Reaching Inside--Reaching Out: Supporting Growth in Libraries and Society

1994 - Miami Beach

• Beyond Daddy's Roommate: The Evolving Market in Children's Books

1993 - New Orleans

• I Read You Loud and Queer: The New Demand for Gay and Lesbian Literature

1992 - San Francisco

• Gay and Lesbian Media After Mapplethorpe

1991 - Atlanta

• Gay and Lesbian Library Service: Exploding the Myths, Dismantling the Barriers

1990 - Chicago

• AIDS Education: Meeting the Challenge

1989 - Dallas

• Our Best Kept Secret: Preserving Gay and Lesbian History

1988 - New Orleans

• Positively Out: Gay and Lesbian Librarians

1987 - San Francisco

• Gay and Lesbian Publishers and Bookstores

1986 - New York

• Word is Out: Getting It into the Stacks and Used

1985 - Chicago

• You Want to Look Up What?? Indexing the Lesbian and Gay Press
• Image/Artist: The Homosexual in the Visual Arts
• Blind Lesbians and Gays: The Lavender Pen in Cassette

1984 - Dallas

• Gay and Lesbian Periodicals for Libraries

1983 Los Angeles

• Why Keep All Those Posters, Buttons, and Papers? Problems and Rewards of Gay/Lesbian Archives

1982 - Philadelphia

• The Celluloid Closet: Lesbians and Gay Men in Hollywood Film

1981

• It's Safer to Be Gay on Another Planet: Gay Images in Science Fantasy

1980 - New York

• Gay Materials for Schools

1979 - Dallas

• An Evening with Gertrude Stein (Pat Bond)

1978 - Chicago

• A Gay Film Festival: Eighteen Documentaries

1975 - San Francisco

• The Children's Hour: Must Gay Be Grim for Jane and Jim? Gay Themes in Novels for Teenagers

1972 - Chicago

• Gay Poetry Readings

1971 - Dallas

• Sex and the Single Cataloger: New Thoughts on Some Unthinkable Subjects