Safe in the Stacks: Public Libraries Serving LGBTQ Homeless Youth
Thursday, April 7, 2016, 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Colorado Convention Center, Room 108/110/112
Everyone can have a role in preventing and addressing LGBTQ youth homelessness. Come learn how your library can welcome and serve these youth in our communities and our libraries. Attendees will hear directly from the youth themselves, and the service providers who work with them, as they offer their stories and their suggestions. Audience interaction will be encouraged, and together we will create plans that address barriers and highlight solutions.
At the end of this session, participants will:
1: Understand the daily challenges for homeless LGBTQ youth. 2: Identify specific resources you can draw on as you serve homeless LGBTQ youth at your library. 3: Recognize barriers to serving these young people in your library.
The session organizer(s) identified this session as appropriate for:
Level 1: People with no previous knowledge of the topic.
This session will have: Medium interaction: single speaker/panel with questions or audience participation throughout
Handouts: Download 1 Download 2 Download 3 Download 4 Download 5 Download 6
Track: Imagine
Tags: Serving Youth, Equity of Access, Outreach Services, Partnerships, Special Needs Populations, Young Adult Services
Presenters
Jama Shelton, Deputy Executive Director
True Colors Fund, New York, NY
For more than a decade, Jama Shelton has worked in the field of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth homelessness. As a trainer, Jama has led numerous workshops and has provided technical assistance to service providers throughout the United States and Canada. Jama's award-winning dissertation examines the unique needs and experiences of transgender and gender non-conforming youth experiencing homelessness. She is also a professor at both the Hunter and NYU Schools of Social Work.
Julie Winkelstein, PhD, MLIS Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN
Julie Ann Winkelstein was a public librarian for 20 years before entering a doctoral program in 2008. Her research interests include LGBTQ youth homelessness, as well as the general intersection of social justice and public librarianship. She is currently the postdoctoral researcher on an IMLS grant, and also adjunct faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has presented widely both inside and outside the library world on the topic of homelessness and libraries.