The library looks a little more colorful today, as there’s now an entire bookshelf dedicated to LGBTQ+reading material. The display will stay up until the end of the school year, as a celebration of love, for LGBTQ Pride Month.

AISB Librarian Traci Marlowe says, “It’s very important for us to display diversity in every way we can, especially in an international school.”

Messages of love and acceptance.

Marlowe hopes that this visibility will help to “normalize” homosexuality and make gay and questioning students feel more accepted. “As a librarian, I choose books that are not only going to appeal to students, but I want to make sure that the students themselves reflected in any way possible.”

Approximately 70 books are on display, and will be kept in the library indefinitely. The hope is that this display can, in a small way, help promote understanding for those who don’t have much experience with the LGBTQ+ community, and to provide teenagers wanting (and needing) this type of content.

Here are a couple of book recommendations that are on display:

This is a story about a “boy” who really, really wants to play Charlotte in the class production of Charlotte’s Web, but the teacher won’t allow it. George and her best friend devise a plan for George play Charlotte and show everyone who she really is once and for all.

Realistic fiction; Recommended for upper elementary (Grade 4+) and middle school.

In Beyond Magenta, the author interviews six teens who were in the process of figuring out gender identity. This is not only a good one for those who are figuring out their own gender, but good for people who just don’t understand the whole gender spectrum thing.

Non-fiction; Recommended for young adults/teenagers.

This is a great option for students who love a good romantic comedy. In this easy read, two girls who don’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings end up falling in love.

Romantic comedy; Recommended for tweens and up.

For a list of LGBTQ+ titles available at AISB, check out this Destiny collection.