# Not all librarians

Sex realist librarians need our support.

After we published our Substack Picture Book Propaganda in May, a reader gave us a salutary reminder in the comments - sex realist librarians are also struggling with the tsunami of chidren’s books that promote gender ideology. Zoe wrote:

A few things. Firstly, it’s not all children’s librarians! Secondly, librarians buy books pre-publication, so they’re selecting a title based on a short description and maybe an image of the cover. Thirdly, a good proportion of individual libraries do not select the majority of their stock anyway; they are on standing order plans or have a consortium selecting model. Lastly, publishing is an industry that drives and replicates cultural trends. Books referencing sexual orientation and gender identity have been very much the zeitgeist of the last few years, there’s lots being published and it’s being relentlessly pushed by publishers, library suppliers, reviews etc. As a reflection of our culture right now we don’t hear about sex-realist points of view, so (with the exception of the few titles you mention and a couple of others) those books either aren’t getting written or being published, or both.

Zoe added - To be absolutely clear though, I can’t stand these books…

Sex realist books aren’t being written

Zoe’s comments about the publishing industry are confirmed by this research report from Sex Matters and SEEN in Publishing (Sex Equality and Equity Network), a UK network of sex-realist publishing professionals, authors, and creatives.

SEEN in Publishing carried out interviews with 25 people working in publishing and also reviewed the publicly available policies and statements of media organisations and carried out an analysis of published books. Some key findings of the research were:

• Publishers have made poor commercial decisions guided by ideology, not markets.

• Abuse of those with gender-critical views in publishing has been relentless.

• Mainstream media outlets have compounded the problem.

• There has been huge bias not only in commissioning, but also in which books receive publicity and which authors are platformed.

• The promotion of gender-identity beliefs in children’s publishing is widespread and its ramifications are serious.

• The impact of this hostile environment and the harms it has caused to those in the industry who hold gender-critical beliefs has been immeasurable. The report states:

“Gender-identity beliefs have become dominant in publishing, and the silencing of opposing views has created a false impression that few people disagree with them. This belief system has created a working environment that has throttled plural perspectives and truly diverse commissioning. Discrimination towards and harassment of gender-critical staff, authors and agents have had tangible, negative effects on people’s health, safety and livelihoods.”

Of particular concern in the SEEN report is the widespread promotion of gender-identity beliefs in children’s publishing. The report expresses foreboding for “children who have grown up in an environment in which it is normalised for them to believe their bodies must be wrong if they do not fit stereotypes for their sex.”

“This ideological marketing to children risks extensive psychological and physical harm”

The report says, “An ecosystem supportive of gender-identity beliefs and hostile to gender-critical positions in schools, libraries and bookshops further embeds this belief system.”

Libraries often outsource their book selection

In October 2024 RGE reported on a complaint made to a NZ library about an explicit graphic novel in its children’s collection.

In answer to the question of how this series was selected, the library said, “We outsource our book selection to Wheeler’s who choose items for our adult, young adult, and children’s collections. This is common in New Zealand as many public and school libraries use Wheeler’s to select, process and classify items. You can see more about this Library Choice selection on their website. Due to the number of items we receive, our staff do not have the time to check the appropriateness. Wheeler’s are generally very good at the classification process but I agree that they have not made a suitable choice in this instance. I will be letting them know that these comics are not suitable for a children’s library and you are welcome to contact them to discuss their criteria for selecting items.” (Address given below)

What happens when you ask for balance at your library?

In our May Substack, we made some suggestions of how to counter the plethora of gender identity picture books in libraries. We proposed asking for them to be classified or displayed more appropriately and requesting that the library purchase some sex realist titles to provide some balance in its collection.

Then we tried out our own advice:

We asked a town library, in the interests of balance, to purchase these six books to include in the picture book collection: Don’t fall for the Trick by Jennifer Bain, Be Exactly Who You Are! by Laura Gehl, Mabel by Rowboat Wilkins, Keith Among the Pigeons by Katie Brosnan, Love your Body by Jessica Sanders, and My Body is Me by Rachel Rooney.

The response from the library was more positive than expected. Two of the books were already in the collection - Don’t fall for the Trick and Love your Body - and the library agreed to add Mabel and Keith Among the Pigeons to their purchasing list. The other two titles were unavailable through the library’s suppliers - Wheelers.

Not only are sex realist books not being written, but the few that are written, independent of the big publishing houses, are not being included in suppliers’ catalogues.

We also asked for What Makes a Baby? by Corey Silverberg to be moved out of the picture book bins. “This book incorrectly tells children that it is not mothers and fathers or males and females that make babies but desexed bodies. It is not appropriate for such scientifically compromised books to be readily available to very young children without parental supervision.” The library replied:

I appreciate your request to move What Makes a Baby. We are committed to supporting the freedom to read and access reliable information with collections which encompass a diverse range of topics and viewpoints. Not every item will be appropriate for every library member and we leave this responsibility with the parents. This title is not in our picture books but part of the children’s non-fiction collection which we feel is appropriate.

Subtle complaints are best

Writing as ‘Jane Doe’ on Substack, a library worker in the US responded to the May Substack with:

It's interesting to see similarities and differences between the US and NZ. I'm not sure “sophisticated” is the word I'd use but whatever gets it off the low shelves is fine in my book. These are some good suggestions, especially shelving under a separate classification rather than placing it in the general picture book section, alphabetical by author. I would really love to ask they be shelved in the adult section under those classifications, but that's probably a stretch.

And of course, banning or challenging can get the book enough notoriety that it ends up dragged out for a banned book week display AND Pride month every year when it would have otherwise been left to rot on the shelf. As much as I instinctually want them banned, the reality it that tweaking the average blue-hair’s nose ring over this will only make their persecution complex grow. More subtle forms of complaint that exploit their “values” in a way they can't argue without showing their true colors is best - brilliant as a matter of fact.

Source: Nicki Truesdell

In another post, Jane Doe comments:

It isn’t book burning to protect kids. As a library worker I don't want to make the publishers stop publishing or adults to have their reading choices monitored. It's a free country. Adults can be as stupid and pervy as they want - in private and away from kids. I want KIDS aka MINORS to be shielded from oversexed garbage.

Yes, I know they have the Internet. We should try to find ways to protect them there, too! They are kids! That's our job as adults…

We need to stop being afraid of being seen as “transphobe” and “bigots”. Go ahead and call the teachers and librarians who hate this stuff names. We shouldn't care. The truth is the truth is the truth.

She adds, “The challenge will be getting sex realists books published by publishers that are distributed by library distributors and then adopted by librarians in charge of purchasing decisions. It’s not surmountable but it’s absolutely something that will require effort and coordination.”

How to support sex realist librarians

1. Approach your library asking for balance in its collection. As well as the six books listed above, ask for the library to purchase Froggy Girl by Pamela Garfield-Jaeger (see below).

2. If you find unsuitable books in the children’s section, ask for them to be classified or displayed more appropriately. (Asking libraries to remove the books altogether goes against their principles.)

3. Write to Wheelers to ask them to include in their catalogue, Love your Body, My Body is Me, and Froggy Girl : https://libraries.wheelers.co.nz/contact/

Froggy Girl tells the story of a little girl who wished she was a frog and everyone in her life wanted to please her so they agreed with her. But when the girl tried to do all the froggy things, she couldn't do them. When she met a wise turtle who helped her realise that living a lie doesn't make anyone happy, she was able to stop pretending to be someone else and finally feel true happiness.

By Fern Hickson