| Popis: |
This paper discusses the pervasiveness of homophobia in our culture and its impact on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) teenagers. It argues that teacher-librarians can support LGBTQ teens by collecting and promoting young adult literature that portrays positive, realistic images of the LGBTQ community. It presents the findings of two studies - one that examined the library collections in North Carolina high schools for the inclusion of LGBTQ-themed titles and one that investigated the content of ten journals that are frequently read by teacher-librarians for articles about LGBTQ issues and collection development published since 2006. Results revealed that high school teacher-librarians are under-collecting LGBTQ-themed titles. Although 5.9 percent of American high school students identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, LGBTQ-themed collections in school libraries are minimal. Additionally, LGBTQ issues are rarely addressed in the scholarly journals. The paper concludes with recommendations to assist teacher-librarians in supporting LGBTQ students. |
