Coming Out: The Information Needs of Lesbians

According to Sasha Alyson, collections development librarians have a responsibility to provide books that address the needs of the estimated 10 percent of the population who are homosexual. Several authors have discussed the important role that libraries can play in the lives of gays and lesbians (see for example, Alyson, 1984; Ashby, 1987; Parkinson, 1987; and Monroe, 1989). Because they afford a degree of privacy to users, libraries that house good collections are a desirable place for gays and lesbians to sift through their positive and negative images and, in so doing, find solace and hope.