LGBT history month and National Coming Out Day reading lists

By Adam Sockel, OverDrive’s Social Media Specialist

Last June, as many of you may recall, the American Library Association held their annual conference in San Francisco. Thirty minutes before our flight landed news broke that the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage were legal in all fifty states. This also coincided with the annual San Francisco Pride celebration which led to a citywide celebration and a moment I will never forget.

Perhaps my favorite part about the situation was the people I was surrounded by. Librarians have long been some of the most forward thinking and progressive voices in most communities and it was exciting to see the countless shows of support from the library community as well as the publishers and vendors on the trade show floor.

I’ve been thinking about this experience lately as October is LGBT History Month and so it seemed like a perfect time to look through our collection to find applicable titles. Some of the best LGBT titles available for your YA fans can be found in our Rainbow Reading: from GLBT to QUILTBAG in YA.  You can see a much larger collection by doing an advanced search in Marketplace for “Gay/Lesbian” titles in the subject line. Additionally, October 11th is National Coming Out Day and what better to show support to this section of your users than by providing some great literature from the wonderful authors of the LGBT community.