Out on the Shelves

Dunedin Public Libraries is proud to support diversity in our community and be part of the Out On The Shelves Campaign this year. Out on the Shelves is an online resource that lists books with rainbow themes and characters, with the aim of supporting rainbow young people to find stories that represent their identities in positive and affirming ways. Out on the Shelves is run by InsideOUT, a national charity with the vision for all rainbow young people in Aotearoa New Zealand to have a sense of belonging and safety in their schools and communities.

Diversity in literature is really important as fiction helps us to see who we are and to understand how others are. It helps develop empathy and understanding. It is important that our young people have access to stories which show people, families, communities, cultures, experiences and realities from their lives, not just from one group of people, or from one country or culture. A collection rich in diversity helps us see the rich tapestry of the world around us and to celebrate that reality.

To help our readers find these books in the Dunedin Public Libraries collections, library staff have identified fiction books in the Youth collections with rainbow characters or themes and added a reference term so that they can be easily found.

In the catalogue > select All Fields > type LGBTQI+ > then limit by Audience (Teen) and Content (Fiction)