By A. Faulkner
What is your role in the GLBTRT?
I just finished a two-year appointment on the Over the Rainbow Booklist Committee, which was an amazing and exhausting experience! I’ll take some time to breathe, and then consider how I can help out next.
What does the GLBTRT mean to you?
For me personally, it means support, fellowship, and camaraderie. I’ve met some amazing library professionals through the GLBTRT who inspire me to be better, do better, and hang in there. It’s also a comfort to know that all these wonderful people are out there supporting LGBTQIA people all over America in colleges, libraries, and archives.
Are you involved in ALA in other ways?
I’ve been involved with a few committees with the New Members Roundtable. They do a great job providing support to new members who want to get involved with ALA.
What professional work do you perform?
I’m the Adult Services librarian at a small-to-medium-sized public library. My job duties include all of what you’d expect: reference, collection development, programming, tech help, and general customer service. I teach basic computer classes, co-lead a knitting group, make flyers and web graphics, and coerce our shelving pages and circulation staff into helping me move chairs and tables, cut paper for DIY journals, wrap books for Valentine’s Day, and numerous other little projects. I also coordinate our Adult Literacy program, which provides free tutoring for adults learning to read or wanting to improve their reading skills.
What would you like to share about your personal life?
I’m a brand-new homeowner (well, condo-owner) experiencing all the joys and tribulations that entails. I share my living space with a tabby cat named Franny, who is indeed named after the J.D. Salinger character.
What are you most proud of?
Because of severe mental health issues, finishing school was a long, hard struggle. I can’t remember the grand total, but I think I flunked out of university at least 4 times before I finally graduated with my Bachelor’s degree. I’m proud that I kept with it, kept going, and pushed through to a career that I love and a life that I want to live.
Who inspires you?
It’s no one person. I meet people all the time who inspire me! More than anything, I admire courage, and people who put love and compassion first.
What are your goals? (Professional and/or personal.)
Someday, I would like to finish one of the many novels I’ve started in my head.
What do you think (or predict) is the future of libraries?
While libraries are fabulous at adapting to changing times and changing technology, I think at our core we’ll be much the same as we’ve always been. We will continue to provide access to information, and teach information literacy. (Now more important than ever!) As for public libraries, we will continue to be a place to experience the joy of stories: through books, music, and movies, or in whatever formats they may exist.
In what direction would you like the GLBTRT to move in the future?
As our community grows, the GLBTRT needs to advocate for every identity under the queer umbrella. Representation matters!
If you could be transported into the fictional world of any book, where would you go?
Bas-Lag
What would be the title of your autobiography?
Wine and Sweatpants
If you could only choose one song to play every time you entered a room for the rest of your life, what would it be?
When I am daydreaming about being a standup comedian (which is a thing that I do) I always imagine my walk-on music would be North American Scum by LCD Soundsystem.
If you could have a dinner party with 5 culturally or historically significant figures, living or dead, who would you invite?
Oscar Wilde, Sappho, Shakespeare, Amelia Earhart, Ida B. Wells
What is the meaning of life?
I have absolutely no idea, and I am perfectly OK with that. I have this philosophy that the minute you think you’ve got things figured out, that’s when it all starts to go wrong.
