1st Annual SILS Project Fair

Front of the custom brochure I made to go with my poster.

Back of the brochure.

Finally, inside the brochure was a mini-version of my poster.

Today I presented a poster on my research done for INLS 841: Seminar in Academic Libraries class in the first annual School of Information and Library Science's (SILS's) Project Fair at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 
This was my first poster and research presentation, so I was very excited to tell listeners about the importance of librarians' diligence to ensure that academic libraries (and all libraries, really) provide a safe and inclusive space for everyone, including transgender people.  

When more than more than 90% of two- and four-year institutions “remain completely inaccessible and inhospitable to transgender students," it becomes obvious that a change needs to happen, and that change can begin with libraries (G. Beemyn & Rankin, 2011).  By:

• developing community assessments for your transgender users, if possible
• collecting accurate, up-to-date materials for transgender people during college, a period of great change and self-discovery 
• educating library staff about how to use gender neutral language in interactions and refrain from making assumptions about patrons' genders 
• providing or lobbying for gender non-specific (GNS) restrooms
• ensuring policies are inclusive in content and scope
• making library correspondence gender non-specific (no Mr./Ms./Mrs.)
• providing a strong pool of online resources, in LibGuide or another well-structured format

...You too can set up your library to be a trans-friendly and welcoming space!


Reference
Beemyn, G., & Rankin, S. (2011). The lives of transgender people. New York: Columbia University Press.