About Queerbrary

Queerbrary is all about LGBTQ+ inclusion and active support in library spaces, both for patrons and staff worldwide.

“But,” you may ask, “we already host Drag Queen Story Hour! Isn’t that enough?” First off, I love Drag Queen Story Hour. They’re amazing and deserve all the support in the world. They’re also a great entry into queer programming! But no, that’s not enough to support your LGBTQ+ patrons. Would one computer class a year be enough to support job hunters? One teen program? One crafting class? NO! Obviously we need to support our communities with lots of programs each year in order to meet their educational and social needs. Same should go for your LGBTQ+ population.

This blog is all about finding ways to meet the needs of your patrons (students, customers, etc.), staff, and faculty in a way that isn’t just lip service. Libraries of all kinds need comprehensive LGBTQ+ programming, collection development, outreach, and staff training and support in order to truly serve the community as a whole. And when we say comprehensive, we mean it – programming for all ages and abilities; collections that include queer romance, sexual health, science fiction, biographies; collections that include equal representation of Black, indigenous, and POC queer authors; outreach that expands outside of the Pride parade; training that doesn’t focus solely on vocabulary.

There’s so much to explore when queering the library. Let’s get started.

About Ahliah

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Ahliah Jo Bratzler (she/they) is a former public librarian gone rogue. As an employee at the Indianapolis Public Library, Ahliah created a staff committee to address the lack of queer support (for both employees and patrons) in the system. They spearheaded the first LGBTQ+ programming in the system, acquired the historic Chris Gonzalez Collection (making her system the owner of the third largest public library collection of queer material in the country), and vastly expanded outreach to organizations in the community focused on LGBTQ+ services - particularly inclusive organizations that were proactive in serving BIPOC communities. She left the public library world shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Indiana to pursue freelance opportunities in librarianship and writing. As a disabled queer writer, Ahliah is passionate about increasing access to well-researched knowledge to people throughout the world, especially when that knowledge is actively being hidden or destroyed. She currently works with the Stonewall Book Awards as the administrator for the Barbara Gittings Literature Award committee, and is a book reviewer with Library Journal.