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Libraries, long tasked with defending intellectual freedom, find themselves under siege with threats of censorship for carrying gender/sexuality-related materials or holding LGBTQ-related events. Efforts to censor materials and control programming threaten to have a chilling effect on libraries’ ability to carry out their core missions.
Censorship Is a Drag pulls together contributions from across the library ecosystem exploring the significance of these threats and the ways librarians have responded, offering an intellectual and practical toolkit, in tandem with lessons from experience, to help librarians make their way through this new intellectual climate.
Presenter Info
Jason D. Phillips
Jason D. Phillips is an Associate Librarian / Social Sciences Librarian in the Research Engagement Department at the University of Central Florida. He serves as subject librarian and liaison to Sociology and the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs. His research areas of interest are diversity, equity, and inclusion in library services and collections, evidence synthesis reviews in the Social Sciences, and issues surrounding librarian burnout.
Jordan Ruud
Jordan Ruud is the director of library services at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith, where he serves as liaison to the humanities disciplines. His research interests include user experience and intellectual freedom.
Debra Livingston
Debra Trogdon-Livingston (she/they) serves as the User Experience and Education Strategist for Region 2 of the Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) headquartered at the Medical Universi ty of South Carolina (MUSC) in Charleston, South Carolina. They provide resources, education, user experience guidance, and program evaluation services to members and communities in Region 2. Debra leads the Regional Medical Library’s education strategy and advo cates for equitable user experiences in and beyond Region 2. They are an instructor for both the Medical University of South Carolina and the Network of the National Library of Medicine. Debra enjoys finding ways to integrate equity practices into their instruction. Deb ra brings more than nineteen years of library experience and more than twelve years of health and wellness programming in multiple libraries throughout North and South Carolina with a strong empha sis on public libraries. They have presented at local, regional, and national conferences. Debra has a strong focus on mentorship, community partnerships, diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, LGBTQIA2S+ equity, and health literacy. Debra actively researches LGBTQIA2S+ library worker equity and health equity.
Phoebe Doyle
Phoebe Doyle is an aspiring writer from Dublin, born and raised in The Liberties, Dublin’s oldest quarter. She holds an undergraduate degree in English and film studies and a Master in Library and Information Studies, both from University College Dublin. A poet at heart, Phoebe takes a similar approach to academic writing—the pairing of engaging, moving prose with facts being, as she believes, to be one of the keys to change. She continually finds inspiration through lesbian writers of the past, the beauty of her city, and the wondrous people in her life. Her other works lie haphazardly in dog eared notebooks and will hopefully one day grace the shelves of other curious writers. Her contribution to this book marks her first professionally published piece. You can follow her on Twitter at @ PhoebeEllaDoyle.
Amanda Melilli
Amanda Melilli, Head of the Teacher Development & Resources Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), supports the teacher education programs within the UNLV College of Education and specializes in youth library collections with a focus on the discovery and evaluation of diverse children’s/young adult literature. Melilli’s research interests include promoting the use of often underutilized youth materials, specifically the importance of incorporating graphic novels into elementary/secondary classrooms and supporting LGBTQIA+ youth through inclusive school library collections and curriculum.
Matthew Rohweder
Matt Rohweder is a Liaison Librarian at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is the recipient of the 2021-2022 Ontario Council of University Faculty Association’s Award of Distinction in Academic Librarianship. He has worked in academic libraries since 2014 and is an advocate, activist, and ally for all equity-deserving groups. He is co-author of Librarian’s Guide to Games and Gamers: From Collection Development to Advisory Services (Libraries Unlimited). His research interests include DEI initiatives in libraries, LGBTQ+ community libraries and education programs, and allyship in libraries. Outside of work, he is an avid reader, gamer, and vinyl collector. He and his husband live in Kitchener, Ontario, with their dog, Scarlett.
Lisa Johnston
Lisa N. Johnston is Director of Library Services at Eckerd College. Lisa has had a lengthy career as a liberal arts college librarian special izing in public services, arts, and humanities. She is currently co-director of ACRL’s College Library Director Mentoring Program (CLDMP). Lisa has been an active member of the American Library Association’s Rainbow Round Table since 2000. She has served on the Stonewall Book Award jury four times. When she left Sweet Briar College after over two decades of service as associate director of the library to join Eckerd College as their director in 2015, she was honored with the appointment professor emerita of Sweet Briar College. In the summer of 2013, Lisa served as assistant librarian for Semester at Sea, which only increased her passion for travel. When she’s not at the library, she can be found reading about queer history, watching British detective shows, and planning her next adventure. Lisa lives in the rainbow bubble of St. Petersburg (the Austin of Florida) with her wife and their two cats.
David Benjamin
David Benjamin is the Head of the University of Central Florida Libraries Special Collections & University Archives department. Before working at UCF, David was the Assistant Director of the Volkerding Study Center at the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography and the Visual Materials Archivist at the Wisconsin Historical Society. He started his career in archives in the University of Kansas’ Kansas Collection. David has a Master of Library Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Architecture in American Architecture and Landscape History from the University of Kansas. An archivist for 30-plus years, David is involved with several regional, national, and international organizations, including the Society of American Archivists, Association of Moving Image Archivists, Association of College and Research Libraries Rare Books and Manuscript Section, and the Society of Florida Archivists.
James Rosenzweig
James W. Rosenzweig is a Professor and the Education and Children’s Studies Librarian at Eastern Washington University. James’s re search interests include citation analysis and source evaluation for K-12 students and college undergraduates, diverse representation in children’s and young adult literature, and Wikipedia in the class room. He holds a Master in Teaching from Western Washington University and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Washington.
Maureen Babb
Maureen Babb is a Science Liaison Librarian in the Jim Peebles Science and Technology Library at the University of Manitoba. Maureen obtained an MLIS from the University of Alberta, has published in the Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship, the Journal of the Canadian Health Libraries Association, the Journal of the Medical Libraries Association and elsewhere, and has been Chair of the Canadian Association of Professional Academic Librarians (CAPAL)’s Research and Scholarship Committee.
Allyson Wind
Allyson Wind (she/her) is the Electronic Resources Librarian at Kemp Library, on the campus of East Stroudsburg University (ESU), a Penn sylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Institution. Mrs. Wind is a tenured assistant professor and liaison librarian for the Education, Biological Sciences, Biochemistry, Chemistry and Physics Departments. Her collection development areas include the above liaison areas plus the Children’s and Young Adult Collections and the Curriculum Materials Center (CMC). Mrs. Wind obtained a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate from ESU; her research for the certificate involved investigating whether academic libraries were truly inclusive places for people with disabilities. Mrs. Wind serves as the chair of ESU’s Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (APSCUF) Gender and Social Justice (GISJ) committee.
Evia Giaconia
Evangeline Giaconia is a recent graduate of the museum studies MA program at the University of Florida. Her research focuses on the ethical treatment of Indigenous archival materials and, more recently, queer archiving. When not working as the Access Services Manager at the Architecture & Fine Arts Library at UF, she can be found writing and printmaking.
Maria Atilano
Maria Atilano (she/her) is the Student Engagement Librarian at the University of North Florida’s Thomas G. Carpenter Library in Jacksonville, Florida. She began working in academic libraries in 2002 as a student employee while studying at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Before becoming a librarian, Maria held staff positions as Library Services Specialist in Public Services and Sr. Library Services Associate in Special Collections at UNF. She graduated with her MLIS from Florida State University in 2012. Maria’s research interests include social media, library marketing, student engagement, and instruction.
Julie Leuzinger
Julie Leuzinger (she/her/hers) received her Master in Library Science from the Texas Woman’s University and has been working at the Uni versity of North Texas (UNT) Libraries since 2005. She has over 25 years of management experience that started with owning a mixed martial arts school with her brother in the Dallas area. She is currently the Women’s and Gender Studies and LGBTQ Studies Subject Librarian as well as the library liaison to the campus gender and sexuality resource center. Julie is passionate about providing services and re sources for queer and trans students and coordinates a library-wide collaboration along with campus partners each spring for Campus Pride Week that provides programming for queers and allies alike, highlighting what the library has to offer to this community. She is at present Vice Chair of the Women & Gender Equity Network at UNT. Julie is active in the Texas Library Association, serving on the Legislative Committee, and previously served as Chair of the College and University Library Division. Her research interests include library management-related topics and library services for the transgender community. She is currently working on a study about workplace belonging for transgender and gender-nonconforming library employees.
Kaitlyn Moody
Kaitlyn Moody is a Library Technical Assistant for the Government Documents/Serials Department at the University of South Alabama’s Marx Library. She has a BS in Secondary Education and English, and recently received her MLIS from the University of Southern Mississippi. She has grown a real interest in working with government documents during her time at South Alabama and wishes to more actively ensure that the LGBTQ+ community is accounted for in America’s written history.