Black Lives Matter, Trans Lives Matter and Librarians Must Do Better

The Teen Librarian Toolbox Team wants to unequivocally say that Black lives matter. We stand in solidarity with our Black colleagues, patrons, and friends and we acknowledge the overwhelming whiteness of librarianship We recommend that others search and read widely on the topic of dismantling whiteness in librarianship.

Even while engaged in supporting our communities, librarianship still has a lot of systemic issues in place that leads to and contributes to the oppression of our peers in our workplace and patrons in our communities. There is still so much work to be done.

The Teen Librarian Toolbox Team wants to unequivocally say that we stand with our trans colleagues, patrons, and friends. From the Library Journal choice for Library of the Year to the recent tweets by author J K Rowling, there has been a lot to happen recently to harm our trans colleagues and patrons. We invite you to read this piece Kacen Callender’s them.us to understand more of the harm being perpetuated against the trans community.

As a group of white librarians, we are very aware of our privilege and we are committed to listening, learning and unlearning and intentionally using our platform to lift up marginalized voices whenever possible.

We believe it is our responsibility as educators, librarians, professionals, parents, friends and humans to raise our voices and unequivocally say that we stand united against hate and discrimination and challenge ourselves to learn, unlearn, and grow. 

We get a small monthly fee from School Library Journal that we have over the years used to sustain our platform and to make various donations. We typically donate to buy books for various causes and to social justice oriented platforms such as the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, The Trevor Project, No Kid Hungry, and more. In the coming months, we will be donating funds to various Black centered platforms. If you would like more information on supporting Black Lives Matter or buying from Black owned bookstores or authors, please see these resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ Buy from Black Owned Book Stores

Please buy, read, share and promote books by Black and trans authors, and not just during Black History Month or Pride.

Karen Jensen

Amanda MacGregor

Robin Willis

Ally Watkins

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