Skip to content

“Don’t Say Gay in Alabama” Chosen for 2024 Best JASIST Paper Award

Bharat Mehra

Baheya Jaber

The Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) is delighted to announce that ““Don't Say Gay” in Alabama: A taxonomic framework of LGBTQ+ information support services in public libraries—An exploratory website content analysis of critical resistance” written by Bharat Mehra and Baheya S. Jaber, published in Volume 74, Issue 8 of the Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology (JASIST), is the recipient of the Best JASIST Paper Award for 2024.

This award recognizes the best refereed paper published in the JASIST volume year preceding the ASIS&T annual meeting. JASIST is published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The winning paper is selected for its contribution, professional merit, and presentation quality.

In the paper, Mehra and Jaber examine public library offerings for LGBTQ+ communities in a conservative place. They analyze the websites of Alabama’s 230 public libraries in order to document LGBTQ+ support and representation in collections, resources, organizational roles, and community engagement. Their analysis identifies examples of libraries providing robust information services around economic well-being, education, and health, which counter stereotypes of the “South” as uniformly unsupportive for LGBTQ+ communities. At the same time, the study finds that these examples are isolated in a patchwork of services. The authors make recommendations for more coordinated approaches across the state. Award jurors observed that “this is a very necessary and important paper” featuring “excellent positioning [...] with context about Alabama and the moment in time.” The paper has “real value not only to scholars and academics, but also to practicing information professionals.”

Upon learning of the award to their paper, Mehra and Jaber said, “We are truly honored to receive this prestigious award. We thank the JASIST Best Paper Award Jury and the ASIS&T Board of Directors for their selection in our favor. Our paper presents noteworthy evidence of critical resistance emerging from Alabama’s public libraries to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning {LGBTQ+} people in the face of recent political attacks they have experienced. The research is of utmost importance to us as social justice advocates/scholars in library and information science while extending our impact and relevance to local and regional constituencies. Shout-out to public librarians in Alabama (and around the world) to continue standing up against hate and prejudice targeted toward LGBTQ+ people and disenfranchised others; much appreciation to the JASIST and ASIS&T for valuing such work!”

The authors will accept the award at the 2024 Meeting of the Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T) which will be held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 29-31 October.

ASIS&T also commends the finalists shortlisted by the jury for this year’s award:

Back to Inside ASIS&T, July 2024