LGBTQ+ book club debuts at Hopkinton library. 'A powerful way to promote inclusion'

HOPKINTON — A new club has been formed at the Hopkinton Public Library to help readers engage with books containing LGBTQ+ themes.

The Over the Rainbow Book Club will focus on works by LGBTQ+ authors or those with LGBTQ+ themes. Hopkinton Library Services Director Nanci Hill, who will lead the group, said it was founded as part of a larger, townwide commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

“We had a diversity audit of our collection done and took the results of that audit seriously, ordering titles by and about BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) authors as well as LGBTQ+ authors and stories,” she told the Daily News.

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The group's inaugural meeting is scheduled for March 26 at the library.

Hill, who has been the town's library services director since December 2021, said demand for an adult-oriented LGBTQ+ book club came from adults expressing interest after a similar group for both teens and adults was tried.

“With this group, we're looking to provide a place where LGBTQ+ adults and allies interested in reading about LGBTQ+ themes can engage with works for fiction and nonfiction in a welcoming, non-judgmental environment,” she said.

Other libraries, such as the Ashland Public Library, offer virtual LGBTQ+ book groups.

“We're looking to provide a place where people can come together in person,” Hill said.

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An earlier book group created by the Hopkinton Freedom Team, a local nonprofit that advocates for embracing diversity, as well as the youth LGBTQ+ group didn’t take off, and were later canceled, according to Hill. But Ellen Fitzpatrick, a Hopkinton Freedom Team board member, said LGBTQ+ book groups can lead to more opportunities for growth, understanding and empathy.

“Authors or characters who can open one’s eyes to a new perspective can be a powerful way to promote inclusion," Fitzpatrick said in a statement to the Daily News. "The whole community benefits when we take time to learn and reflect. That’s how empathy and kindness spreads.”

The first book the Over the Rainbow Book Club will read is “White Houses,” by Amy Bloom. It's a fictional account of the real-life relationship between first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Lorena Hickok, an American journalist who became Roosevelt's romantic partner.

Hill said March is a perfect time to discuss the novel, as it is Women’s History Month and the library is co-sponsoring a production of “Truly Eleanor” by the Delvena Theater Company. The Hopkinton Garden Club is also sponsoring the event.

In 2022, books with LGBTQ+ themes were among the most banned from libraries across the country, according to the American Library Association. For two years running, the most challenged title was "Gender Queer," by Maia Kobabe.

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Hill said public libraries should strive to serve everyone in a community, no matter their background, adding that the Hopkinton Public Library is "deeply concerned" about the rise in book bans throughout the country.

Last year, the Hopkinton Public Library Trustees voted to make the library a "book sanctuary," meaning they affirmed that books and other library resources should be "provided for the recreation, information and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves," according to the American Library Association interpretation of the Library Bill of Rights on Diverse Collections.

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For the Hopkinton Public Library, this means materials are not excluded due to their content, origin, background or views of those contributing to their creation.

"When discourse about the content or origins is heightened, the HPL acts to facilitate civil discourse, as the center of the community and in our role to foster and provide space for the open exchange of ideas," Hill said. "Though a response to censorship is not the reason for the creation of this book group, as a marginalized and underrepresented group, the topic is bound to come up in conversation."

The Over the Rainbow Book Club will meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month, from 6:30-7:45 p.m. in the Ellsworth Room of the Hopkinton Public Library.

Copies of “White Houses” can be picked up at the circulation desk at the library, 13 Main St.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: New book club to cover LGBTQ+ topics at Hopkinton library