Pride Month at CMU Libraries: Then, Now, Together
CMU Libraries Celebrates Pride Month Through Reflecting on Decades of Standing up for LGBTQ+ Rights and Community Collaboration
By Lee Parker
Hello and happy CMU Pride Month! Here at CMU, Pride Month is celebrated in April to enable easier student involvement. This year, Pride Month celebrations across the country are focused on collective liberation for all, especially the most marginalized populations. This theme reflects the continued importance of LGBTQ+ advocacy efforts even in challenging times.
CMU Libraries, over its history, has supported LGBTQ+ rights on campus in several ways. One of these ways has been through assisting in the organization of the Office of LGBTQ Student Services community library. Initially developed by the previous Office of LGBTQ+ Student Services chair, the collection had since become disorganized and outdated. As the liaison to this office, I took it upon myself in Fall 2024 to work with Bee Taylor to develop a new organizational system for the collection that fit the needs of its users, tag the works using Homosaurus tags (see https://homosaurus.org/) in a new library catalog, and coordinate an ongoing collection development plan.
Since its reorganization, the collection has served as a basis for several collaborative events where I have worked alongside Bee to compare the Office of LGBTQ+ Student Services library to the main CMU Libraries collection. This comparison has fostered critical reflection on LGBTQ+-centered topics and made individuals aware of the wide variety of LGBTQ+ resources the University Library offers. This collection is best exhibited through CMU Libraries’ LGBTQ+ History and Pride Booklist, a booklist that includes classics by authors such as James Baldwin, LGBTQ+ databases such as the Archives of Sexuality and Gender, and more current works like bestselling novels such as Mike Curato’s Flamer or Juno Dawson’s This Book is Gay.
The CMU Libraries have built its collection over a long period of time--even when that work has been challenged. For example, in 1995, an unknown individual vandalized fourteen works on LGBTQ+ topics in the University Library’s collection. In response, CMU Libraries took immediate action by using this event as an opportunity to replace out-of-date titles with those that reflect more current and respectful approaches on the topic. This action reflects CMU Libraries' continued dedication to housing works on this topic in our collection and keeping our collection as up to date as possible.
With all being said, CMU Libraries wishes everyone at CMU a meaningful Pride Month of advocacy, education, and, hopefully, a bit of fun as well.