Chairs Program
This session will explore the public library as a site for the intersection of gender expression/identity and intellectual freedom, by discussing the phenomenon of Drag Queen Storytime (DGS). The session will consist of a panel featuring originators of the DGS concept; librarians whose institutions have been involved in DGS, with both the popularity and the controversy that have ensued; and a local drag queen storyteller who will read a story to the audience. The DGS program has been immensely popular with many audiences at libraries across the country, but it has also produced its share of resistance and controversy. The panel will discuss how DGS was developed and originally implemented, how librarians have been using it today, how institutions have dealt with specific successes and controversies, and how DGS relates to intellectual freedom.
ALA Unit/Subunit: IFRT
Meeting Type: Chair's Program
Cost: Included with full conference registration.
Open/Closed: Open
Michelle Tea
Author and Literary Organizer; creator of Drag Queen Storytime concept
Curator of the Amethyst Editions imprint at Feminist Press
John Spears
Chief librarian and CEO
Pikes Peak Library District (Colorado Springs, CO)
Kristin Pekoll
Assistant Director
ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF)