“What is a wave but 1000 drops working together?”: The role of public libraries in addressing LGBTQIA+ health information disparities
| Date | 26 December 2023 |
| Pages | 533-551 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-06-2023-0122 |
| Published date | 26 December 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Records management & preservation,Document management,Classification & cataloguing,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Scholarly communications/publishing,Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information management,Information & communications technology,Internet |
| Author | Vanessa Kitzie,A. Nick Vera,Valerie Lookingbill,Travis L. Wagner |
“What is a wave but 1000 drops
working together?”: The role of
public libraries in addressing
LGBTQIA+health
information disparities
Vanessa Kitzie, A. Nick Vera and Valerie Lookingbill
Department of Information Science, University of South Carolina,
Columbia, South Carolina, USA, and
Travis L. Wagner
College of Information Studies, University of Maryland at College Park,
College Park, Maryland, USA
Abstract
Purpose –This paper presents results from a participatory action research study with 46 LGBTQIAþ
community leaders and 60 library workers who participated in four community forums at public libraries
across the US. The forums identified barriers to LGBTQIAþcommunities addressing their health questions
and concerns and explored strategies for public libraries to tackle them.
Design/methodology/approach –Forums followed the World Caf
e format to facilitate collaborative
knowledge development and promote participant-led change. Data sources included collaborative notes taken
by participants and observational researcher notes. Data analysis consisted of emic/etic qualitative coding.
Findings –Results revealed that barriers experienced by LGBTQIAþcommunities are structurally and
socially entrenched and require systematic changes. Public libraries must expand their strategies beyond
collection development and one-off programming to meet these requirements. Suggested strategies include
outreach and community engagement and mutual aid initiatives characterized by explicit advocacy for
LGBTQIAþcommunities and community organizing approaches.
Research limitations/implications –Limitations include the sample’s lack of racial diversity and the gap
in the data collection period between forums due to COVID-19. Public libraries can readily adopt strategies
overviewed in this paper for LGBTQIAþhealth promotion.
Originality/value –This research used a unique methodology within the Library and Information Science
(LIS) field to engage LGBTQIAþcommunity leaders and library workers in conversations about how public
libraries can contribute to LGBTQIAþhealth promotion. Prior research has often captured these perspectives
separately. Uniting the groups facilitated understanding of each other’s strengths and challenges, identifying
strategies more relevant than asking either group alone.
Keywords LGBTQIAþpopulations, Health information, Public libraries, Community-based research,
Qualitative methods
Paper type Article
Introduction
Public libraries serve as contested sites for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning,
intersex and asexual (LGBTQIAþ)[1] individuals due to larger sociopolitical forces that limit
Public libraries
supporting
LGBTQIAþ
health
533
Since submission of this article, the following author have updated their affiliations: Travis L. Wagner is
at the School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA.
This research was funded by the Institute for Museum of Library Services (IMLS) and part of a larger
project entitled, Examining Public Library Service to LGBTQ Communities for Health-related Information.
The funding period for the project is from 09/01/18 to 03/31/23. The PI on this project is Vanessa L. Kitzie. For
more information, the project website can be accessed via the following link: http://bit.ly/hiplgbtq
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/0022-0418.htm
Received 28 June 2023
Revised 9 November 2023
Accepted 12 November 2023
Journal of Documentation
Vol. 80 No. 2, 2024
pp. 533-551
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0022-0418
DOI 10.1108/JD-06-2023-0122
their ability to provide affirming resources and services. Examples include political figures
attempting to ban and criminalize drag story times (Floegel et al.,2020;Rojas et al., 2023;
Wexelbaum, 2016), backlash by conservative organizations against libraries engaging in
explicitly pro-LGBTQIAþevents (Jaeger et al.,2022;Ellis, 2022) and book bans that pathologize
LGBTQIAþ-themed books and materials as obscene (Pavenick and Martinez, 2022).
Unfortunately, these forces can lead to exclusionary practices that create barriers to
community engagement within library walls. Such practices range from implicit technical
biases, such as outdated metadata describing queer communities (Adler, 2015), to anti-queer
sentiments deployed by information professionals (Austin, 2019). These practices produce
feelings of alienation and hostility among LGBTQIAþindividuals when using library resources
(Kitzie et al.,2022;Pierson, 2017;Robinson, 2016). Nevertheless, public libraries can play a crucial
role in the lives of LGBTQIAþcommunities by addressing critical informational and resource
gaps, especially in health and healthcare contexts (St. Jean et al., 2020). This role can be vital for
LGBTQIAþcommunities, who often lack access to health-protective resources, including
financial resources, affirming healthcare and social safety (Br€
anstr€
om et al., 2016;Diamond and
Alley, 2022;Khan et al., 2017;Phelan et al.,2010). Social factors, or determinants, are at the root of
these barriers, which suggests that to address them is to engage in political action to affect the
distribution of rights, status and goods across various social contexts (Marmot, 2005).
This paper translates public library researchinto actionable practice by reporting findings
from a participatory action research study with 46 LGBTQIAþcommunity leaders and 60
libraryworkers participatingin four community forumsat public librariesacross the US (in SC,
CO, PA and KS). Forumsfollowed the World Caf
e format to facilitatecollaborative knowledge
development and promote participant-led change. They sought to answer two research
questions: (1) What barriers do LGBTQIAþcommunities f ace when address ing their health
questions and concerns? (2) What strategies can public librariesand other stakeholders adopt
to address these barriers? The study’s findings provide actionable steps public libraries can
take to promote LGBTQIAþhealth and address current barriersto community engagement.
Literature review
LGBTQIAþhealth and health information inequities
Due to the social impacts of cis/heteronormativity, LGBTQIAþpopulations face increased
barriers to obtaining healthcare and health information. These norms presume that every
personis cisgender and heterosexual,and, as such, the worldreflects and prioritizestheir needs
(Serano, 2016;Warner, 1993). These terms can be distinct. For instance, a doctor’sofficemay
have intake formsthat challenge heteronormativity by asking if the respondent has a partner
rather thanif they are married but reify cisnormativity by envisioning genderas binary. They
can also interrelate, such as a healthcare professional assuming a person whose sex-assigned-
at-birthis female is in a relationshipwith a man. In this paper, we address broaderhealth issues
experiencedby LGBTQIA communities.Therefore,we combine cis and hetero whendescribing
normativitywhile recognizingthat in more specific, individualexamples, these experiencescan
be unique. Within healthcare contexts, cis/heteronormativity ranges from chronic
misgendering to presuming irrelevant healthcare interventions based on enforced
heterosexuality (Wagner et al.,2022). These biases result in understandable mistrust and
avoidance ofhealthcare providers by LGBTQIAþpersons (Morris et al.,2019). Social stigmas
and oppressionsinformed by different livedexperiences, including race,age, class and ability,
produce other barriers for LGBTQIAþpopulations navigating health information contexts
(Kitzie et al.,2020). The technologies associated with medical care often reproduce these
normative ideologies, such as medical intake forms asking for one’s gender but meaning sex-
assigned-at-birth or offering binary gender options. These examples reveal broader concerns
around LGBTQIAþ-exclusionary sociotechnical system design (Wagner et al.,2022).
JD
80,2
534
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