LGBTQ+ youths in the Republic of Ireland report statistically higher levels of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts than their heteronormative peers, which can be attributed to bullying and homophobic rhetoric. Research indicates that community services, such as public libraries, can play a role in mitigating the mental health risks of this group. However, there is no formal policy within the Irish public library system directing the collection and provision of LGBTQ+ materials and services to anyone, let alone youths. Previous international studies have shown that, in the absence of a guiding intersectional collection development policy, LGBTQ+ library materials are overwhelmingly representative of the gay, white, adult male experience, to the detriment of other groups within the LGBTQ+ community. Conducting a quantitative content analysis of the Dublin City Council Public Library catalogue through the lens of intersectionality theory confirms that the Irish public library system is not an exception to this trend. Results indicate that catalogue materials containing LGBTQ+ metadata favor the adult, gay, male experience – as well as the youth, gay, male experience – over adult and young women. This trend is particularly noticeable among the eBook catalogue, an area that the Irish public library system has directly identified as a strategic target for collection development. Conclusions align with previous qualitative studies on LGBTQ+ provision in Irish libraries in that a comprehensive organizational policy document is needed to provide direction and enable funding for the development of the LGBTQ+ section of the library system’s catalogue.

Bean, TW, Moni, K (2003) Developing students’ critical literacy: Exploring identity construction in young adult fiction. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy 46(8): 638648.
Google Scholar
Beiriger, A, Jackson, RM (2007) An assessment of the information needs of Transgender communities in Portland, Oregon. Public Library Quarterly 26: 4560.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Bittner, R, Ingrey, J, Stamper, C (2016) Queer and trans-themed books for young readers: A critical review. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 37(6): 948964.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Bond, G (2014) Changing with the times. Publishers Weekly, 23 May, pp. 2122, 2426.
Google Scholar
BorrowBox (n.d.). BorrowBox Library. Bolinda Digital. Available at: https://fe.bolindadigital.com/wldcs_bol_fo/b2i/mainPage.html?b2bSite=4815 (accessed 3 June 2019).
Google Scholar
Boyd, R (2002) eBooks 101. Lambda Book Report 11(2): 30.
Google Scholar
Chapman, EL (2013) No more controversial than a gardening display? Provision of LGBT-related fiction to children and young people in U.K. public libraries. Library Trends 61(3): 542568.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Chapman, EL (2015) Provision of LGBT-related fiction to children and young people in English public libraries: A mixed-methods study. PhD Thesis, University of Sheffield, UK. Available at: https://ucd.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ucd.idm.oclc.org/docview/1784057757?accountid=14507 (accessed 5 May 2019).
Google Scholar
Clarke, KL (2011) LGBTIQ users and collections in academic libraries. In: Greenblatt, E (ed.) Serving LGBTIQ Library and Archives Users: Essays on Outreach, Service, Collections and Access. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, pp. 8193.
Google Scholar
Clyde, LA, Lobban, M (2001) A door half open: Young people’s access to fiction related to homosexuality. School Libraries Worldwide 7(2): 1730.
Google Scholar
Cockett, L (1995) Entering the mainstream: Fiction about gay and lesbian teens. School Library Journal 41(2): 3233.
Google Scholar
Cole, SM (2014) Gender identity construction through talk about video games. CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture 16(5): Article 9.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Creelman, JAE, Harris, RM (1990) Coming out: The information needs of lesbians. Collection Building 10(3/4): 3741.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Crenshaw, K (1989) Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A Black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics, The University of Chicago Legal Forum 1: 139167.
Google Scholar
Dellon, S (2015) LGBTQ publishing: An LGBTQ publishing wish list. Publishers Weekly, 22 May. Available at: www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/new-titles/adult-announcements/article/66737-lgbtq-2015-an-lgbtq-publishing-wish-list.html (accessed 7 June 2019).
Google Scholar
Department of Children and Youth Affairs (2017) LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy 2018‒2020: LGBTI+ Young People: Visible, Valued and Included. Dublin: Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Available at: https://www.dcya.gov.ie/documents/20180709LGBTINationalYouthStrategyRev.pdf (accessed 10 June 2019).
Google Scholar
Department of Rural and Community Development (2018) Our public libraries 2022: Inspiring, connecting and empowering communities. Government of Ireland. Available at: https://drcd.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/LGMA-Our-Public-Libraries-2022-v2.pdf (accessed 10 June 2019).
Google Scholar
Drabinski, E (2013) Queering the catalog: Queer theory and the politics of correction. Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 83(2): 94111.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Dublin City Council Public Libraries (2014) Dublin City Council Public Libraries collection development policy. Dublin City Council. Available at: http://www.dublincity.ie/sites/default/files/content/RecreationandCulture/libraries/About%20Us/Documents/Collection-Development-Policy-DCPL.pdf (accessed 5 May 2019).
Google Scholar
Enzer, JR (2011) Publishers ignoring lesbian writers. Washington Blade. Available at: www.washingtonblade.com/2011/06/23/publishers-ignoring-lesbian-writers/ (accessed 30 May 2019).
Google Scholar
Ettarh, F (2014) Making a new table: Intersectional librarianship. In the Library with the Lead Pipe, 2 June. Available at: www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2014/making-a-new-table-intersectional-librarianship-3/ (accessed 1 June 2019).
Google Scholar
Fullerton, D, McGrellis, S, Power, I, et al. (2017) LGBTI+ National Youth Strategy: Report of the Consultations with Young People in Ireland. Dublin: Department of Children and Youth Affairs. Available at: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/28323/1/DOCYA_LGBTIConsultationStrategyReport.pdf (accessed 1 June 2019).
Google Scholar
Garnar, M (2001) Changing times: Information destinations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Denver, Colorado. Information for Social Change 12. Available at: http://www.libr.org/ISC/articles/12-Garnar.html (accessed 2 December 2019).
Google Scholar
Gerbner, G, Gross, L (2003) Living with television: The violence profile. In: Miller, T (ed.) Television: Critical Concepts in Media and Cultural Studies. Vol. II. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, pp. 153162.
Google Scholar
Goldthorp, JD (2007) Can Scottish public library services claim they are socially inclusive of all minority groups when lesbian fiction is still so inaccessible? Journal of Librarianship and Information Science 39(4): 234248.
Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI
Goodwin, G (2018) A helping hand for queer and questioning youth: Provision for young LGBTIQ people in Irish public libraries. MSc in Library and Information Management Dissertation, Dublin Business School, Ireland. Available at: https://esource.dbs.ie/handle/10788/3486 (accessed 15 April 2019).
Google Scholar
Greenblatt, E (2005) Exploring LGBTQ online resources. Journal of Library Administration 43(3/4): 85101.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Higgins, A, Doyle, L, Downes, C, et al. (2016) The LGBTIreland Report: National Study of the Mental Health and Wellbeing of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex People in Ireland. Dublin: GLEN and BeLonG To, Dublin. Available at: http://belongto.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/LGBT-Ireland-Full-Reportpdf.pdf (accessed 14 April 2019).
Google Scholar
Holland, K (2019) People wrongly think everything is ‘okay’ now for young LGBT people. The Irish Times, 17 May. Available at: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/people-wrongly-think-everything-is-okay-now-for-young-lgbt-people-1.3894978 (accessed 1 June 2019).
Google Scholar
Howard, SA, Knowlton, SA (2018) Browsing through bias: The Library of Congress Classification and Subject Headings for African American studies and LGBTQIA studies. Library Trends 67(1): 7488.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Jones, KC, Misra, J, McCurley, K (2013) Intersectionality in sociology. Sociologists for Women in Society. Available at: www.socwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/swsfactsheet_intersectionality.pdf (accessed 1 April 2019).
Google Scholar
Joyce, S, Schrader, A (1997) Hidden perceptions: Edmonton gay males and the Edmonton Public Library. Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science 22(1): 1937.
Google Scholar
Kerrigan, P (2017) Respectably gay: Homodomesticity in Ireland’s first broadcast of a homosexual couple. In: Dhoest, A, Szulc, L, Eeckhout, B (eds) LGBTQs, Media and Culture in Europe. London: Routledge, pp. 1328.
Google Scholar
Kerrigan, P, O’Brien, A (2018) ‘Openness through sound’: Dualcasting on Irish LGBT radio. Journal of Radio and Audio Media 24(2): 224239.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Kerrigan, P (2019) Projecting a queer Republic: Mainstreaming queer identities on Irish documentary film. Studies in Documentary Film 13(1): 117.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Libraries Ireland (n.d.) Catalogue. Libraries Ireland: Making Every Library Your Local Library. Available at: http://librariesireland.iii.com/iii/encore/?lang=eng (accessed 12 April 2019).
Google Scholar
Linville, D (2004) Beyond picket fences: What gay/queer /LGBTQ teens want from the library. Voice of Youth Advocates 27(3): 183186.
Google Scholar
Lo, M (2011) How hard is it to sell an LGBT YA novel? Mailindalo, 13 April. Available at: www.malindalo.com/2011/04/how-hard-is-it-to-sell-an-lgbt-ya-novel/ (accessed 3 March 2019).
Google Scholar
McCarthey, SJ, Moje, EB (2002) Identity matters. Reading Research Quarterly 37(2): 228238.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
McDonagh, P (2017) ‘Homosexuals Are Revolting’: Gay and lesbian activism in the Republic of Ireland 1970s‒1990s. Studi Irlandesi: A Journal of Irish Studies 7: 6591.
Google Scholar
McGrath, B, Rogers, M, Gilligan, R (2010) Young People and Public Libraries in Ireland: Issues and Opportunities. Dublin: Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.
Google Scholar
Mathiesen, K (2015) Informational justice: A conceptual framework for social justice in library and information services. Library Trends 64(2): 198225.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Mehra, B, Braquet, D (2007) Process of information seeking during ‘queer’ youth coming-out experiences. In: Chelton, MK, Cool, C (eds) Youth Information-Seeking Behavior II: Contexts, Theories, Models, and Issues. Toronto: Scarecrow Press, pp. 93131.
Google Scholar
Morales, M, Knowles, EC, Bourg, C (2014) Diversity, social justice, and the future of libraries. portal: Libraries and the Academy 14(3): 439451.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Naidoo, JC (2013) Over the rainbow and under the radar: Library services and programs to LGBTQ families. Children and Libraries 11(3): 34–0.
Google Scholar
Naylor, R (2014) Too many ebooks, too many choices. Journal of the Library Administration and Management Section 10(2): 46.
Google Scholar
Ó hUltracháin, C, Mathews-McKay, R, Urain, B (2016) Burning Issues 2: What’s next for LGBT Ireland? National LGBT Community Consultation 2016. Dublin, Ireland: National LGBT Federation. Available at: http://nxf.ie/wpcontent/uploads/2016/06/Burning-Issue-2-Report-by-NXF.pdf (accessed 3 April 2019).
Google Scholar
Outhouse (n.d.) Library. Outhouse LGBT Community Resource Center. Available at: https://outhouse.ie/library.html (accessed 5 August 2019).
Google Scholar
Pickard, A (2013) Research Methods in Information. London: Facet.
Google Scholar
Rourke, L, Anderson, T (2004) Validity in quantitative content analysis. Educational Technology, Research and Development 52(1): 518.
Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI
Sandy, HM, Brendler, BM, Kohn, K (2017) Intersectionality in LGBT fiction: A comparison of a traditional library vendor and a nontraditional eBook platform. Journal of Documentation 73(3): 432450.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Schrader, AM, Wells, K (2011) Queering libraries and classrooms: Strategies to build inclusive collections and services for sexual minority and gender variant youth. In: Greenblatt, E (ed.) Serving LGBTIQ Library and Archives Users: Essays on Outreach, Service, Collections and Access. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, pp. 94112.
Google Scholar
Shakespeare, R (2018) Libraries Unlimited: A Development Plan for Dublin City Public Libraries 2019-2023. Available at: https://www.dublincity.ie/councilmeetings/documents/s21916/11%20Library%20Strategy%20Report%202019.pdf (accessed 3 March 2019).
Google Scholar
Snapp, SD, Watson, RJ, Russell, ST, et al. (2015) Social support networks for LGBT young adults: Low cost strategies for positive adjustment. Family Relations 64(3): 420430.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Ward, M (2018) In Dublin’s fair city: An examination of access and provision for LGBTQ+ patrons in Dublin’s public libraries. Unpublished MA Dissertation, Aberystwyth University, UK.
Google Scholar
Whitt, A (1993) The information needs of lesbians. Library & Information Science Research 15: 275288.
Google Scholar
Xhonneux, L (2012) The classic coming out novel: Unacknowledged challenges to the heterosexual mainstream. College Literature 39(1): 94118.
Google Scholar | Crossref
Access Options

My Account

Welcome
You do not have access to this content.



Chinese Institutions / 中国用户

Click the button below for the full-text content

请点击以下获取该全文

Institutional Access

does not have access to this content.

Purchase Content

24 hours online access to download content

Research off-campus without worrying about access issues. Find out about Lean Library here.

Your Access Options


Purchase

LIS-article-ppv for $37.50

Article available in:

Related Articles

Articles Citing this One: 0

Cookies Notification

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Find out more.
Top