I ran into a young girl I know today. I don't know her well, and haven't had a conversation with her beyond the normal pleasantries. I noticed she was wearing a Pittsburgh Steeler's shirt, and being the product of many generations of Pittsburghers (and being bilingual in English and Pittsburghese), I had no choice but to comment on her shirt. This is unusual for me as I don't want to be that person who always notices boys for how funny or clever they are, while pointing out how much I love a girl's haircut/skirt/shoes. Girls are so much more than their clothes, and even if their clothes are something I wish I could borrow, it isn't fair to them to reduce them to that. However, the Steelers are close to my heart as they remind me of my dad, and I commented on the girl's shirt without thinking.
For the first time ever, I was glad that I did. This girl's eyes lit up. Even though I can barely carry on a two sentence conversation about football, I had opened this girl up to a conversation that it was very clear she desperately wanted to have. First she felt the need to explain that her dad was embarrassingly a Raven's fan, to which I mentioned that I was married to a Redskin's fan myself. She looked at me quizzically, and said, "But that is a different division?" I recovered by saying, "Right, but my brother is a Dallas fan!" (When in doubt, throw the Cowboys under the bus). She looked sympathetic, and told me a few things about the Steeler's running game, and quarterback that I didn't really follow. But she was totally engaged and we made a connection.
If I were her librarian, I would make sure I had some football books ready for her next time she came into the library. But that would not have been what I would have thought of if we hadn't had that conversation. The literature all says what boys and girls want when it comes to books. Boys like graphic novels, humor, sports, war and non-fiction, while girls prefer novels, mysteries, realistic fiction, and animals. My own experiences have shown me that these gender divisions play out every day in libraries. In fact, one girl came into the library today and told me she wanted a humorous book, but not a "boy humor" book. My lead librarian and I have talked about the fact that we need a better representation of girls in the "Sports" section of the library, but that would include more sports books with female protagonists and predominately girl sports. If that girl had come in and just asked me for a sports book, I might have immediately leapt to a book about Gaby Douglas, or Hope Solo. The Pittsburgh Steelers or a football book might not have crossed my mind.
By thinking through a gendered lens, I would have missed real opportunity to connect with a student, and get a meaningful book into the hands of a child. It is so important to connect the right books to the right kids, and often that means making assumptions about the child based on outward appearances and things like gender. And this works. Knowing and respecting a boy's desire to read graphic novels can help that boy become a lifelong reader. But how do we deal with the fact that not every child can be generalized to what we know about most children? Ideally we would know every student well enough to know just what they need, but that is sadly unrealistic. One librarian working with 800 students could never know every child no matter how hard they try. I am still trying to figure out what it is that we can do.
If I were her librarian, I would make sure I had some football books ready for her next time she came into the library. But that would not have been what I would have thought of if we hadn't had that conversation. The literature all says what boys and girls want when it comes to books. Boys like graphic novels, humor, sports, war and non-fiction, while girls prefer novels, mysteries, realistic fiction, and animals. My own experiences have shown me that these gender divisions play out every day in libraries. In fact, one girl came into the library today and told me she wanted a humorous book, but not a "boy humor" book. My lead librarian and I have talked about the fact that we need a better representation of girls in the "Sports" section of the library, but that would include more sports books with female protagonists and predominately girl sports. If that girl had come in and just asked me for a sports book, I might have immediately leapt to a book about Gaby Douglas, or Hope Solo. The Pittsburgh Steelers or a football book might not have crossed my mind.
By thinking through a gendered lens, I would have missed real opportunity to connect with a student, and get a meaningful book into the hands of a child. It is so important to connect the right books to the right kids, and often that means making assumptions about the child based on outward appearances and things like gender. And this works. Knowing and respecting a boy's desire to read graphic novels can help that boy become a lifelong reader. But how do we deal with the fact that not every child can be generalized to what we know about most children? Ideally we would know every student well enough to know just what they need, but that is sadly unrealistic. One librarian working with 800 students could never know every child no matter how hard they try. I am still trying to figure out what it is that we can do.