Gittings is a revered saint in the queer library world—a discipline I come from! I’m an ex-public librarian and worked in both archives & libraries.
It’s not an easy path to get a bachelor’s then the MLIS degree is a lot of research and writing—but also learning about systems of organization and how people find it, manage it and disseminate it.
So, I’m always interested (and amazed) by how lay people access information, synthesize it as you’ve done, then write a fantastic article! Great job! ♥️✨
Thank you not only for your kind words on this piece but for what I can only describe as service in the holy temples of knowledge in which I was but visitor and you were learned priestess. I am not surprised to find a librarian here by my side. I ran to books to escape to safety, joy, to hope. I spent uncountable hours in a library, under the watchful eye of the lore keepers and story tellers that made it their profession. They sensed perhaps my difference, and my fragile, questioning spirit. They were the first stewards to open the doors to this education, the first allies in my resistance. To have another such servant here, joining for this journey, feels like walking up porch steps to a home amongst the shelves.
This is fabulous writing, as usual. I am old enough to recall a time when representation and community were hard to find outside the bars. I was so grateful for the lesbian writers out there for telling their stories. They made me feel seen and gave me words to understand myself. I couldn't wait to make my weekly trek to Thackery's Book Store to peruse their lesbian section for my selections that week. Thank you for bringing that back to me by telling Barbara's story.
Thank you, for following along on this journey and for continuing to share your voice, and use it to amplify Barbara’s. I can still remember the first book I ever read with a gay character. I remember thinking I had discovered some secret book and keeping it hidden in plain sight on my shelves. Every time I find an LGBTQ+ character in a story or see an LGBTQ+ book section I say a special thank you, just to her.
Wow—thank you for the deep level of research!
Gittings is a revered saint in the queer library world—a discipline I come from! I’m an ex-public librarian and worked in both archives & libraries.
It’s not an easy path to get a bachelor’s then the MLIS degree is a lot of research and writing—but also learning about systems of organization and how people find it, manage it and disseminate it.
So, I’m always interested (and amazed) by how lay people access information, synthesize it as you’ve done, then write a fantastic article! Great job! ♥️✨
Thank you not only for your kind words on this piece but for what I can only describe as service in the holy temples of knowledge in which I was but visitor and you were learned priestess. I am not surprised to find a librarian here by my side. I ran to books to escape to safety, joy, to hope. I spent uncountable hours in a library, under the watchful eye of the lore keepers and story tellers that made it their profession. They sensed perhaps my difference, and my fragile, questioning spirit. They were the first stewards to open the doors to this education, the first allies in my resistance. To have another such servant here, joining for this journey, feels like walking up porch steps to a home amongst the shelves.
It’s rewarding to exchange and share information—it’s a powerful commodity 💰 but, wow—very well put!
This is fabulous writing, as usual. I am old enough to recall a time when representation and community were hard to find outside the bars. I was so grateful for the lesbian writers out there for telling their stories. They made me feel seen and gave me words to understand myself. I couldn't wait to make my weekly trek to Thackery's Book Store to peruse their lesbian section for my selections that week. Thank you for bringing that back to me by telling Barbara's story.
Thank you, for following along on this journey and for continuing to share your voice, and use it to amplify Barbara’s. I can still remember the first book I ever read with a gay character. I remember thinking I had discovered some secret book and keeping it hidden in plain sight on my shelves. Every time I find an LGBTQ+ character in a story or see an LGBTQ+ book section I say a special thank you, just to her.