By Tess Goldwasser
Julie is the co-chair of the GLBTRT Advocacy Committee and was recently appointed to be one of the GLBTRT representatives on the Diversity Council.
She was a public librarian for 20 years, serving as a librarian in jails and prisons, as well as in family literacy, and then in a branch as both a young adult librarian and children’s librarian. She is currently working as the postdoctoral researcher on a 3-year IMLS grant that provides continuing education for librarians in California and East Tennessee. The grant is called Library Anchor Models for Bridging Diversity Achievements (LAMBDA) and it focuses on how public libraries can best serve homeless LGBTQ youth. This was the topic of her doctoral work, which she completed in December 2012.
Julie has three daughters and two granddaughters, who all live 3000 miles away, so she doesn’t get to see them as often as she’d like to. She likes to read, write, read, weave, read, bake, read, and travel with her husband. She also maintains a small library at a homeless shelter for youth, so she’s always looking for paperback books in excellent condition and on a variety of topics. Did I mention she likes to read?
Her passion is social justice. She says: “I see libraries, especially public libraries, since they’re the ones I know best, as critical partners in creating a more just, equitable and caring society. I’m proud of the social justice work I do every day, from addressing homelessness to speaking up at City Council meetings to working for LGBTQ rights to teaching to writing. It all matters. My professional and personal goals are the same – to work toward a society that is all-inclusive, rather than inclusive, which I think implies an out-group and in-group. This is a society where everyone’s voices are heard, acknowledged and heeded. A world that isn’t about power but is instead about equality; a world that is safe for all of us. This is a goal that probably isn’t truly attainable but the company I get to keep as I do my work is inspiring and keeps me going.”
She does have attainable goals though! The first is to write a book based on her dissertation. The second is to see a gender neutral bathroom at ALA annual 2015 in San Francisco.
If Julie was an animal she would be a tiger, because they’re tough when they need to be and represent a fighting spirit. And they ROAR!
I asked her if she could have a dinner party with five culturally or historically significant figures, living or dead, who would you she invite. Her answer: “Ruth Bader Ginsburg, because I love her mind. Myles Horton, because he was passionate and active about his beliefs. Paulo Freire, because he wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed and how could you not want to have dinner with him? Lorraine Hansberry, because she was an activist and a playwright. And for the last one, I think Eleanor Roosevelt, because of who she was. Although there’s also Ida B. Wells, Sidney Poitier, Michel Foucault… There are many writers, activists, scientists, philosophers, and artists I admire, such as James Baldwin, Albert Einstein, Marvin Gaye, W.B. Yeats, Thomas Hardy, Martin Luther King Jr., Rachel Maddow, August Wilson, Samuel Beckett… but I’m not sure I would want to meet them. I’m afraid I might not like them in person and that would affect my feelings about their work!”
