As everyone knows, we need to bring in some books dealing with out topic for our final project. Instead of just ordering them on-line, I decided to try some of the bookstores back home and around Lansing. Considering GLBT is a touchy subject, I did not expect to find them in the small bookstores back home but I wanted to give it a shot anyways. I didn't expect to find the books but I also wasn't expecting the reaction I got from the store owners. At the first store, I told the owner I was looking for a book titled, "Daddy's Roommate". She gave me a puzzled look and asked what genre is was and I replied that it was a children's book on the topic of GLBT. She gave a slight roll of the eyes and said "Oh. We don't have anything like that here", then just walked away. I got a similar reaction from the other bookstore I tried back home. He simply said "I don't carry books like that." The owners actually seemed offended that I would ask for such a book and made no attempt to provide me a way to find the books. I understand that it is a small town and I love it dearly, but sometime I feel that they need to join the 21st century.
I had a little more success when I tried some stores in Lansing. Although none of the stores had the books I was looking for, they all seemed willing to help me find them.
I also went to Everybody Reads to look at their selection of books and was so impressed by what I found. There were books for almost every issue and I gain so much respect for the store. If you haven't been there yet, I highly, highly recommend it.
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3 comments:
I, too, and doing my final project on the topic of GLBT literature. I have searched several libraries around my hometown and also received not only shocked looks from the librarians, but also from other bystanders. I had many mothers and fathers give me disgusted looks as I asked the librarian to help me search for children’s literature about homosexuality. Not only were the parents uninviting, the librarians often were little help as to volunteering other sources or means of locating these book. Good luck with your future searches! :)
That is so frustrating. I always feel like our world is moving forward in GLBT issues and then something like this will happen. Good luck Stephanie! I hope you find some people that are more open minded!
I too had a hard time finding the books that dealt with my topic. I am studying books that deal with speech disabilities. I was able to go on amazon.com and look up books on the subject but once I left the internet world those books did not exist. I called three of the largest book store franchises and none of them had the titles that I was looking for. You would think that since they are such common bookstores that they would have a large variety of books to choose from but....they didn't. Then I decided to go to my local library at home in Southfield and there was where i found the books that I needed for my project. So I figure well if I'm not able to buy the books out of the store at least they are available for to check out at the library. I consider that a plus. At least I know I have a fairly good library with a multitude of choices in books.
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