Recent donations to the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children’s Literature at California State University, Fresno, have created the largest collection of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/ questioning) themed books for young readers in any U.S. library.
Three donations of nearly 500 books started when Michael Cart of Columbia, Ind., gave several hundred books. Cart, former director of the Beverly Hills Public Library, is well-known as an author, editor and leader in the American Library Association.
His gift inspired a donation of books from his friend Kathleen Horning, director of the Cooperative Children’s Book Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Another of Cart’s friends, Nancy Silverrod of the San Francisco Public Library, pledged additional books from her personal collection. She is a former youth services librarian who has compiled several LGBTQ bibliographies.
Angelica Carpenter, curator of the Arne Nixon Center, said many LGBTQ titles are not available in school or public libraries or face battles to be kept in circulation once they are acquired.
The announcement by the Arne Nixon Center comes as California prepares for implementation on Jan. 1 of a law requiring public schools to teach about contributions made by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender role models.
The Arne Nixon Center at Fresno State is a research collection; its books do not check out and they are available to the community at large for use in the Henry Madden Library.
For more information, contact Carpenter at 559.278.8116 or angelica@csufresno.edu.
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