Emily Drabinski

One of the most sacred institutions in America is under attack: our libraries. But thanks to Emily Drabinski, the president of the American Library Association, and other brave librarians, they have a real fighting chance.

“My election to president of the American Library Association as an openly LGBTQ+ person makes me incredibly proud of my community,” she says. “We know how intense the attacks on equity and access to queer stories have become because we are the people putting those books in the hands of readers. Knowing members chose me to lead even in these difficult circumstances means that all of us have won.”

Since she was elected, Drabinski has faced an onslaught of attacks online, singling her out for her lesbian identity. But that hasn’t slowed her down. In a political climate where the far right is attempting to pull LGBTQ+ stories from shelves, she’s going to keep on fighting book bans, traveling the country to see what libraries need, and advocating for libraries in all communities.

“Even as we see legislation targeting the right to read queer stories, we also see a vibrant LGBTQ+ community that is larger, louder, and more open than any I could have imagined growing up in the 1980s,” she says. “As I visit libraries from Rhode Island to West Virginia, Iowa to New Mexico, California to Oregon, to the Philippines to Belgium, I see that we are everywhere, and we are stronger together.” @edrabinski