Amidst a wave of book bans and challenges around the country, five—yes, five!—services are actually providing free, LGBTQ-inclusive books to schools and educators. Here’s how to request them.
First, remember that although LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ books may be banned and challenged in some states and local schools, seven states now require LGBTQ inclusion in curricular standards, and most states do not have statewide bans on LGBTQ-inclusive curricular materials (although local policies and practices may vary).
Each of these services offers slightly different sets of books and has slightly different requirements for requesting them. Please visit their websites for complete details. If you are not interested in requesting books yourself, I hope you’ll pass along the information to friends and colleagues who may be. You can also make monetary donations to support any of these organizations.
- Pride and Less Prejudice offers book bundles for pre-K through 3rd-grade classrooms. They also offer teaching guides for all of their selections. Request a bundle here.
- Hope in a Box offers book boxes for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms, and prioritizes public schools in rural areas. Each box includes 20 to 25 books, plus curriculum guides. Request a box here (Note that the next round of applications must be received by October 1, for delivery in December.)
- GLSEN’s Rainbow Library sends age-appropriate book sets to K-12 schools and libraries in 26 states and counting. (See their FAQ page.) They also provide curricular resources. Request a set here.
- Open Books (formerly Gender Nation) sends books from its selection of picture books and one early-middle-grade title to public schools. Request them here.
- The Make It Safe Project donates books for teens (including their own anthology of writings from LGBTQ youth) to schools, youth homeless shelters, and juvenile detention centers. Request them here.
On a related note, the Unicorn Express will send a free, LGBTQ-inclusive book to any student in a state or district with book bans, or who otherwise has trouble accessing them.
Of course, free books are far less useful if there are laws or policies limiting their use. If you experience book bans or challenges in your school or community, or just want to learn more about them, here are some resources:
- Information on responding to bans from GLSEN’s Rainbow Library
- “A Template for Talking with School and Library Boards About Book Bans,” from Bookriot
- The Book Challenge Resource Center from the National Coalition Against Censorship
- Book Ban Busters resources and training, from Red Wine and Blue
- PEN America’s extensive research and reporting on book bans
- Fight Censorship materials from the American Library Association
