“It's hard to see how these would be harmful to kids”: Public library staff perceptions of child development and drag queen storytimes

Abstract

This paper reports preliminary results of a survey of 458 public library staff members regarding their perceptions of drag queen storytimes (DQS) and the ways in which these storytimes influence child development. The majority of respondents from libraries that have hosted at least one DQS agreed that DQS support healthy child development and positively influence children’s understanding of gender and/or sexuality, while respondents from libraries that have not hosted DQS were more likely to disagree or report being undecided. Specific ways in which respondents perceive DQS to influence child development are also analyzed.

Sarah Barriage

School of Information Science, University of Kentucky

Sarah Barriage is an Assistant Professor in the School of Information Science at the University of Kentucky. Her research interests include the information practices of children and youth and social justice in libraries. She has published articles in Library & Information Science Research, Information Research, and Journal of Childhood Studies.

Vanessa Kitzie

School of Information Science, Univerisity of South Carolina

Vanessa Kitzie is an Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina School of Information Science. Her research and teaching interests include human information behavior and gender and sexuality studies. She is a recipient of IMLS Early Career Development grant and has published in venues like JASIST.

Diana Floegel

School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University

Diana Floegel is a doctoral candidate at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information. Their research examines people’s information creation practices, sociotechnical assemblages, and information institutions such as libraries. They have published in Library and Information Science Research, Journal of Documentation, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, and more.

Shannon M. Oltmann

School of Information Science, University of Kentucky

Shannon M. Oltmann is an associate professor at the University of Kentucky. She has published a book, Practicing Intellectual Freedom for Libraries, and numerous articles. Her work focuses on intellectual freedom, censorship, and information ethics.