Vampires

Any future librarians who are considering going into the youth services field should give this a listen. This is a speech given by David Levithan, author of Boy Meets Boy, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, and most recently Dash and Lily's Book of Dares at the 2007 Reading Matters Conference in Australia.

http://www.insideadog.com.au/media/audio/Reading%20Matters/david_levithan_kill_the_vampires.mp3

"What are you here for? That's the question you have to ask. Reading matters, we all agree upon that. why does reading matter? Reading matters because life matters and reading matters because living matters.
You're here because you want to help kids and you help kids by getting them the right book at the right time. And you can't let the vampires prevent you from doing that. If you don't kill the vampires you are killing the kids who need the books.
A kid walks into a library or into a bookstore or into a classroom, he or she wants to see himself or herself reflected in the shelves. Absolutely. You have a moral obligation to respect that. and to fight off the vampires and to give them those books. There's no question here...
Right now homophobia is the acceptable prejudice...There is no such thing as an acceptable prejudice. Period.
The kids need you. These books help...We owe it to them to fight. It's a moral obligation. You have to do it...The only argument you have is doing the right thing.
Teen literature at its best, and the reason that I believe that I do it, that most of us do it, is that in the right hands, it doesn't just entertain, it is meaningful it says you belong...Books can help, but books can only help if you get them to the kids."

Some steps have already been taken to change things he addressed in this speech. There are more and more books being published every year in the GLBTQ genre for YA, but we as librarians need to be willing to fight those "vampires" that Levithan talks about that are in our workplace. The fear of being called out for supporting this cause, for causing controversy with those who do not want these books on our shelves. If kids can't come to the library with their questions and receive unbiased answers, where else are they going to go?

I want my library to be an environment where kids feel safe. I want them to be able to know that they can come to me with their questions and I will do my best to help them in finding whatever answers they are looking for.

But to do that, I need to start fighting my own personal vampires. I do fear getting into trouble for buying these books and having these materials available. But as a librarian, it is my duty to make sure that the kids have access to this information. No matter what the cost.

It is time to take up the battle against the vampires. Are you ready?