Mimi is the current Co-Vice President board member of HVLA. Even as a busy librarian, she still finds time to support an organization called Open Books. Mimi serves on their Executive Board. In this member spotlight, Mimi shares more about her time with Open Books.
When did you begin working with Open Books?
In October of 2024, I was asked by a dear friend of mine to consider joining him on the Executive Board of Open Books, a nonprofit organization that donates free LGBTQ+ affirming books to public school libraries across the nation. Open Books specifically aims to help schools who otherwise wouldn’t have the funding (or sometimes the support) to get these stories onto their shelves. And this work shows, more than 27% of LGBTQ+ students report they feel safer and more accepted when their school libraries have many LGBTQ+ resources. Open Books is based in Los Angeles, and is proud to partner with Human Rights Campaign Fund, Equality California, and Unite Against Book Bans. I then accepted the offer.
Why did you decide to accept the Executive Board position?
I doubt that there is a librarian among us who hasn’t had the transformative experience of witnessing firsthand how powerful it can be for kids to find a book in their library that reflects their own experience. In the five short years I have been a school librarian, I have been overjoyed to see such an increase in LGBTQ+ characters in books for young readers. I wish these books had been around when I was a child, searching furtively in the stacks to see my young queer self in a book.
I joined the board of Open Books because I wanted to make a difference—especially in this current political climate. With increasing book bans, restrictions on free speech, and efforts by both local and federal administrations to limit what young people can access in school libraries, it felt urgent to take a stand. Only 7.2% of LGBTQ+ students said their schools have many LGBTQ+ books. All students deserve to see themselves in the books on those shelves—and to be exposed to stories and ideas that broaden their understanding of the world.
What are some of the challenges Open Books is facing?
Over the last year, the struggle to get books into the schools that request them have increased exponentially. Because of the Supreme Court and state politicians limiting access to LGBTQ+ books in public school libraries, many schools want our book sets now more than ever. Our model of donating to school libraries, district-wide, means schools don’t need to spend funds on creating diverse libraries. We are also struggling to meet the demand for our books and have a waitlist of 50 schools. Although we’d like to reach as many students as possible, we are currently unable to due to financial constraints.
How can people get more involved?
If you’d like to learn a bit more about what we do, Open Books was recently featured on the School Librarians United podcast. I’d love to answer any questions people may have. And if you are able, please consider visiting this eFair run by Open Books to donate 20 sets of 13 LGBTQ+ affirming books to middle school libraries! Just click on a book cover to donate a book!
Is there anything else you would like to share about Open Books?
Yes! These are some statistics that we at Open Books are very proud of!
- By the end of September, we will have donated 5,150 books to 415 schools in the last 12 months alone.
- This fall, new students in 1,700 schools will have access to our book sets!
- We already have a wait list of 50 schools, from WA, AL, and OH among other states.
- Kids’ reading scores improve more than average when they read books that mirror their identities.