Advocacy & Resources Committee

Charge

Serves as a support to those who advocate for library services to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, genderqueer, queer, intersex, agender, asexual, and ally communities, families, and their allies at the local, state, and national level. Works with other ALA units, including divisions, the Chapter Relations Committee, and the Committee on Library Advocacy to integrate LGBTQIA+ advocacy into their planning and advocacy strategies. Provides support through a variety of means, including:

  • Creating, evaluating, and maintaining bibliographies and resource lists on the Rainbow RT website.
  • Soliciting new resources from Rainbow RT members that meet established criteria and reviews them for inclusion on the Rainbow RT web site.
  • Developing and maintaining toolkits.
  • Providing continuity for advocacy efforts such as June is LGBTQIA+ Book Month.
  • Suggesting website changes for the Rainbow RT advocacy & resources page, including a mechanism on the web page for users to suggest new topics or other changes on the page.
  • Cultivating future leadership to sustain the advocacy efforts of the Rainbow RT.

Roster

Eden Devon Biskin (Member, July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023)
Kelly Kreps Depin (Member, July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023)
Jeremy Gunnoe (Member, July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023)
Ms. Laura C. Haynes (Member, July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023)
Jonathan Khan (Member, July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023)
Dr. Gwendolyn D. Reese (Member, July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023)
Ms. Tenley Nadine Sablatzky (Member, July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023)
April Sheppard (Member, July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023)
Kestrel S. Ward (Member, July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023)
Monica L. Chapman (Primary Staff Liaison, June 19, 2020, to June 30, 2025)

Previous Year / Next Year

Displaying active committee roster as of 06/10/2023. Last retrieved on 06/10/2023. Members can log in and refresh the page to view full contact information for committee members.

Resources

Composition

The committee will consist of 10 to 15 members, a board liaison, and will be led by a chair. Ideal candidates will have a background in ALA advocacy, communication, and digital skills.

Origin

At the ALA 2012 Midwinter Meeting, the GLBT Round Table Steering Committee charged the Resources ad hoc committee one year (January 2012 to January 2013) to assess, develop, and maintain all resources listed on Publications page of the round table web site. The content on this page was on the Popular Resources page of our old web site. 

During the November 2013 round table board meeting, the GLBTRT Resources Committee was charged as a standing committee.  The committee began work 2014 July.

The Advocacy Committee was originally charged at the November 2013 GLBTRT Executive Board meeting as an ad-hoc committee. Slight amendments were made to the charge during the meeting that are captured in the November meeting document comments area. At ALA Annual 2015, the GLBTRT Executive Board voted to make the Advocacy Ad-hoc Committee a permanent standing committee. 

At the 2018 ALA Annual meeting and the 2019 ALA Midwinter meeting, the Rainbow RT Executive Board voted to merge these two standing committees into a single committee.

Get Involved

Serving on a Rainbow Round Table committee requires membership in ALA and RRT. Learn more by visiting our membership page. To volunteer for a committee, visit our volunteer form page.