For those interested in the world of LGBTQ publishing, there are several articles of interest in the May 29th issue of Publishers Weekly. In the article “Welcoming Spaces,” Alex Green discusses that role that mainstream booksellers have taken in distributing books from LGBTQ presses (p. 23-28). Though the LGBTQ publishing industry has blossomed over the past 10 years, the specialized bookstores that brought these books to communities are mostly closed or struggling. Mainstream booksellers who are interested in bringing more LGBTQ materials to their shelves should pursue relationship building with these specialty publishers. A complementary article, “The Library Saved My Life,” foregrounds the role that libraries can play as safe spaces for the LGBTQ community (p. 29-31).
The issue also includes the list “Select Books with LGBTQ Themes” (p. 32-34), broken down into Adult fiction and poetry, Adult non-fiction and Children’s and YA Fiction. If you are lucky enough to control a portion of your library’s collection development budget, there is a lot here that is worthy of your attention.
Issue Information: LGBTQ Books. Publishers Weekly, vol. 264, no. 22, 29 May 2017, pp. 23-34. URL: http://www.digitalpw.com/digitalpw/may_29__2017?pg=25#pg25
-Emilia Marcyk
