Gender-Supportive School Library Services

What services does your library provide to support queer youth? At the urban Texas high school library I manage, we do several things that go off the school library script to provide gender-responsive library services. This session describes how I retrofitted existing library services and created new traditions to contribute to a culture of trans-positivity and safety. Examples of gender-supporting school library services include, but are not limited to: gender-neutral bathroom access, free clothing, free replacement student IDs, and name change administrative support. Each of these services are examples of "universal design" -- a principle in disability pedagogy that describes how an accommodation for one student often benefits the entire class. For me, the reverse was sometimes the case in that I developed library services to help everyone and found them to be of particular benefit to students who identified as trans or nonbinary. In Texas, the ability to provide student access to books with queer characters may become limited in school libraries, but regardless of your state or library type, it is vital to consider service-oriented ways to support patrons' gender expression.