Digital Galleries : LGBT - a Library Perspective

CASE 1: From The Kinks to The Cliks to the clichés (yes, we do have The Village People doing “Y.M.C.A”) the library CD collection has been built with the aim of creating a deep and diverse refuge where anyone can pursue his or her personal interests and musical passions. In an effort to open up new avenues of exploration and discovery, the library has created playlists of songs by LGBT-friendly artists, which are streamed over the campus network via the file sharing capabilities of Apple’s iTunes software. From our perspective, sharing our music is intended to assure students that we are willing to meet them in a space of their choosing—a space that is familiar, comfortable, and vibrant. The library actively seeks CD recommendations from members of the Union community and draws on a number of authoritative sources in an effort to identify and acquire the best available music created by LGBT artists. CASE 2: Side 1: Gender, love, family, kinship, marriage. Today’s LGBT communities continue to challenge and redefine these concepts, and they do so in a variety of circles – political, legal, artistic, religious, and personal. As Ben Summerskill does in his edited volume, this display offers perspectives on the issue of The Way We Are Now in the developing international LGBT dialogue. CASE 2: Side 2: Gender, love, family, kinship, marriage. Today’s LGBT communities continue to challenge and redefine these concepts, and they do so in a variety of circles – political, legal, artistic, religious, and personal. As Ben Summerskill does in his edited volume, this display offers perspectives on the issue of The Way We Are Now in the developing international LGBT dialogue CASE 3: Side 1: Schaffer Library boasts a growing collection of LGBT fiction, including Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness (1928), widely considered to be the first lesbian novel and prefaced in Union’s edition with a supportive statement by sexual psychologist Havelock Ellis. This exhibit offers examples of more contemporary works as well, beginning with Rubyfruit Jungle, Rita Mae Brown’s 1973 semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age story. Featured are winners of the Whitbread Prize for Best First Novel (Jeanette Winterson, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit; 1985), the Yale Younger Poets Prize (Richard Siken, Crush; 2004), the Man Booker Prize for Fiction (Allan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty; 2004), and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (Michael Cunningham, The Hours; 1999 and Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex; 2003), demonstrating the crossover of LGBT content to the mainstream literary marketplace CASE 3: Side 2: Schaffer Library boasts a growing collection of LGBT fiction, including Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness (1928), widely considered to be the first lesbian novel and prefaced in Union’s edition with a supportive statement by sexual psychologist Havelock Ellis. This exhibit offers examples of more contemporary works as well, beginning with Rubyfruit Jungle, Rita Mae Brown’s 1973 semi-autobiographical, coming-of-age story. Featured are winners of the Whitbread Prize for Best First Novel (Jeanette Winterson, Oranges are Not the Only Fruit; 1985), the Yale Younger Poets Prize (Richard Siken, Crush; 2004), the Man Booker Prize for Fiction (Allan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty; 2004), and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (Michael Cunningham, The Hours; 1999 and Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex; 2003), demonstrating the crossover of LGBT content to the mainstream literary marketplace CASE 4: Side 1: On October 5, 1989 the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Alliance (G.L.B.A) made its first public announcement to the Union community in the Concordiensis, entitled, “We’re Damn Proud.” On January 20, 2001 members of the campus community came together and published a statement condemning the use of homophobic language. And on April 7, 2008 an art exhibit entitled, “LGBT: A Union Perspective” opened at the Wikoff Student Gallery. Incorporating Concordiensis articles and yearbooks, this exhibit offers a glimpse at the brief and complex LGBT history at Union College. It also draws attention to issues and challenges facing LGBT college students and how other campuses are addressing these needs. CASE 4: Side 2: On October 5, 1989 the Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Alliance (G.L.B.A) made its first public announcement to the Union community in the Concordiensis, entitled, “We’re Damn Proud.” On January 20, 2001 members of the campus community came together and published a statement condemning the use of homophobic language. And on April 7, 2008 an art exhibit entitled, “LGBT: A Union Perspective” opened at the Wikoff Student Gallery. Incorporating Concordiensis articles and yearbooks, this exhibit offers a glimpse at the brief and complex LGBT history at Union College. It also draws attention to issues and challenges facing LGBT college students and how other campuses are addressing these needs.
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