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Tuesday May 13, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
Comics, graphic novels, and zines challenge several library conventions such as classification, material format, and bias towards textual presentation of knowledge. In their own disruptive manner, these materials can "queer" the library, complicating established paradigms and carving out their own unique spaces and user groups. Not coincidentally, many of these materials are created by LGBTQ2S+ artists and authors and queer and trans themes are often central to their content. The collection, preservation, and promotion of these materials are essential to supporting LGBTQ2S+ activism.

In order to explore these concepts more fully, the Graphic Novels, Comics, and Zines SIG and the LGBTQ+ SIG collaborated to propose a round table discussion at the 2025 ARLIS/NA Conference. With help from the co-editors of the ARLIS/NA Notable Graphic Novels Review, we plan to anchor discussion around a recently reviewed queer and trans fantasy-romance graphic novel. We have invited the author/illustrator, a representative from the publisher of the title (a radical indie publisher of comics and graphic novels), and an ARLIS/NA member reviewer from NGNR. This session also celebrates the nine years of Notable Graphic Novels Review by highlighting the collaboration between authors, publishers, and library and information workers needed to support this art form.

Guiding questions: What kinds of queer and trans possibilities are afforded by the medium of comics/graphic novels? What are ways that libraries, publishers, and artists can collaborate to support queer and trans comics? How are efforts to censor LGBTQ2S+ books in libraries affecting your work?
Speakers
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Elias Larralde

American Philosophical Society
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Caitlin McGurk

Associate Curator, Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
avatar for Giana Ricci

Giana Ricci

Librarian for the Fine Arts, New York University
Giana Ricci is the Librarian for the Fine Arts and Head of the Arts, Performance, and Humanistic Inquiry Department at New York University (NYU) Libraries. She has an MLS from Long Island University and an MA in Art History from NYU's Institute of Fine Arts. She has previously worked... Read More →
avatar for Tara Spies Smith

Tara Spies Smith

College of Fine Arts & Communication Librarian, Open Licenses Librarian, Texas State University, Alkek Library - Rio
Tara is also the Co-coordinator of the Graphic Novels SIG and Co-Editor of the ARLIS/NA Notable Graphic Novels Review.
SP

Sylvia Page

Research & Instruction Librarian, UCLA Library
Tuesday May 13, 2025 12:00pm - 1:00pm EDT
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Attendees (8)


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