Orlando 2016

In the wake of the tragic mass shooting at Pulse in Orlando in the early hours of June 12, our hearts go out to the victims, the injured, to their loved ones, the emergency responders, and to the LGBTQ and Latinx communities and spaces targeted by this attack and too many others like it.

Visit www.somosorlando.info and www.weareorlando.org for information on resources, events, and ways to help.

We invite you to support the Community Fund organized by the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida for victim relief.

Contribute your librarian skills to our Pulse Orlando Syllabus of resources, to the Pulse Nightclub Shooting Web Archive, and to the One Orlando Collection Initiative to preserve both the digital and physical memory of this incident.

And for those who will be in Orlando for ALA Annual:

Come share some love at Que(e)ry’s “Hug a Homosexual*” event on the Convention Floor at the Zine Pavilion on Friday 5:30-7:00pm.

There will be a memorial event for victims of the Pulse shooting, led by representatives of ALA, REFORMA, and GLBTRT. Saturday, June 25, 8:00am at the Convention Center Chapin Theater (W320),

Consider patronizing other local queer bars and clubs who are coming together to support the Orlando Queer/Latinx community following the Pulse shooting.

This ALA page is being updated with Orlando Support activities and related resources for conference-goers, including blood donation opportunities for those who are eligible, other donation and advocacy opportunities, information on convention security, and health and coping resources.

And we again invite you to consider attending the Librarian’s Thing at BB King’s, BCALA’s fundraiser for the Cynthia Graham Hurd Foundation for Reading & Civic Engagement. The Foundation was established in memory of Cynthia Graham Hurd, one of 9 victims fatally shot at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina last year. Hurd was a librarian for the Charleston County Public Library system.

See a full schedule of queer-themed conference programs and events below.

Fri. 6/24:

5:45-6:30pm: It’s Not Just a G Thing: Exploring LBTQ (and Beyond) in Middle Grade and Young Adult Literature, Exhibit Hall, Pop Top Stage

5:30-7pm: “Hug a Homosexual*” Exhibit Hall, Zine Pavilion

8pm-midnight: EveryLibrary fundraiser at Howl at the Moon

Sat. 6/25:

8-8:30am: Memorial for victims of the Pulse shooting, Convention Center Chapin Theater (W320)

1-2:30pm: We Need Diverse Books and More: Multiple Diversities: Capturing the Experience of Intersectional Identities, Convention Center, Rm. W101A

1-2:30pm: Serving up the Subversive, Convention Center, Rm. W103A

3-4pm: “The wedding heard ‘round the world: The Michael McConnell and Jack Baker Story,” Convention Center W109B

4:30-5:30pm: “Queer Zines: Where We’ve Been, Were We’re At, and Where We’re Going” Convention Center W102A

8pm-midnight: Librarian’s Thing at BB King’s, BCALA fundraiser for Cynthia Graham Hurd Foundation for Reading & Civic Engagement

Sun. 6/26:

1-2:30pm: “No Room at the Library: The Ethics of Diversity,” Convention Center W105B

3-4pm: “Reflecting Realities: Trangender Fiction for Tweens and Teens” Convention Center W102A

6-8pm: GLBTRT Social, Blue Martini Lounge, Pointe Orlando

Mon. June 27:

8:30-9:30am: Jazz Jennings (auditorium featured speaker), Convention Center Chapin Theater (W320)

10am-noon: Stonewall Book Awards Program, Hyatt Regency Florida Ballroom

Also, we hope you’ll consider supporting these two great queer organizations in Florida:

Reading Queer: preserving and promoting queer literary culture in South Florida.

Stonewall national Museum & Archives, Ft. Lauderdale