What Does It Mean to Be a Changemaker?

I am an ambassador for Just Like Us (JLU), a charity that, among other things, provides support to school pride groups. Yesterday, JLU ran one of their Student Leader training sessions for pride groups, and I was invited to come and talk a bit about being a changemaker. I chose to tell the story of my work on LGBT+ inclusion in my library as well as being a disabled person advocating for myself in the workplace. I wanted to highlight the importance of other people in achieving change. This is a rough transcript of that talk.

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[Thanks previous speaker]

Okay. What does it mean to be a changemaker? Firstly, I want to say that I definitely don’t have all the answers and being a changemaker is something I am still very much figuring out myself. But I can tell you about what I have done, how I got here, and some of the things I’ve learnt along the way. I am a library assistant working to make my library and community more welcoming and inclusive of LGBT+ people. And it is in this role that I consider myself a changemaker.

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But how did I get here? Well, my story really starts where you are now: at school.

My school environment told me it wasn’t okay to be LGBT+. I don’t remember ever being taught about queer identities or people at school and we all knew the words “gay” and “lesbian” but only as negatives.

The only bit of positive LGBT+ representation I remember from my teenage years was Bill Potts, an openly lesbian character played by Pearl Mackie on the show Doctor Who. Even with that though, I had people around me complain about how there were “so many lesbians on TV these days”, while to me, this was the sort of glimpse I needed. I would watch the episodes featuring Bill Potts on repeat but felt like I needed to do this on my laptop secretly in my bedroom.

Essentially, the world I was in was teaching me that was not okay to be like Bill – to be LGBT+ - and that made me feel like there was something wrong with who I was.

In the years after, I looked back and realised that this is not at all the case. As an adult, I came across LGBT+ people in books and real life, I joined LGBT+ communities and I realised that it is okay to be LGBT+. Because of course it is!

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Which brings me to my first point: Being a changemaker is… recognising a problem and imagining a better future.

I feel so strongly now that I was failed by not having positive LGBT+ representation growing up and I was made to feel like I couldn’t be myself. And this become the problem I wanted to work to solve.

I looked at this and imagined a better future. What if young people had access to LGBT+ books in the library, or if lessons at school taught about LGBT+ people and stories? What if their peers simply understand that using “gay” and “lesbian” as insults was wrong? What if everyone working in schools and libraries – places I, at least, spent so much of my time in growing up – were knowledgeable of LGBT+ identities and cultures and made these welcoming spaces?

So at this point, I had this vision, but I was also pretty intimidated by it. This felt like a huge task. How could I, one individual, make a change so big?

A couple of things helped me with this feeling:

First, I looked up to see if anyone else was tackling the same problem and very quickly found I wasn’t alone in my ambition. I came across Just Like Us who were providing the LGBT+ education in schools that I never had, and their ambassadors were giving young people positive representation by telling their stories.

The second thing was that I realised the steps towards your goal don’t need to be big; small things can make huge difference. When I signed up to be a JLU ambassador, I was already being a changemaker. And I would say that all of you have taken that first step by joining your school’s pride group and being here today. That this making change. Small things can make huge difference.

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I started working at my library a little over two years ago. At first, I jumped straight into doing everything I could think of to reach my goal… things I thought would make a difference. In those first few months, I made a Pride display! But it was one of my first ever displays and I didn’t take time to make it visually appealing, and it didn’t get much attention. I started reading LGBT+ books in Storytimes! But only the few LGBT+ books I knew about, so representation was limited. I also started suggesting books to a senior librarian and telling them why we should be investing in this community! But I was speaking to wrong person – someone who had absolutely no control over the book budget.

Essentially, I got a lot wrong.

It became clear that I wasn’t going to get anywhere without understanding how things actually worked around there. So, TOP TIP! Take time to understand the system you’re in because working with the existing system will make change so much easier.

I finally saw progress when I started suggesting books via the established routes in my workplace. I also intentionally took time to work on bettering my displays and research beyond my limited knowledge of LGBT+ literature.

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While all this was going on, I was also a disabled person in a new workplace. And I now want to talk briefly about another type of making change: advocating for myself and my needs.

I started this new job, and I wanted to be good at it, but the workplace wasn’t designed for someone like me. Library assistants work long shifts and the job involves a lot of being on your feet when shelving, for example, as well as pushing heavy trolleys of books. I am also hard of hearing and there are tasks, like answering the phone, which will always be much harder for me. I was struggling. But despite that, in contrast to my work in LGBT+ inclusion which I have never questioned, I found it hard to speak up for myself.

That was until I made friends with a disabled colleague. We began to share stories with each other about experiences at work as disabled people. That made each of us see that the other deserved better and that they should speak up. And by doing so, it helped us see that for ourselves.

So, we teamed up. We got creative and came up with things that each of us could ask for – reasonable adjustments and the like - and then we approached management together with a plan on how to get our points across. And we got what we needed! Since then, without as many barriers, I have had more energy to put into my work. I didn’t originally feel capable of advocating for myself, but then by talking to a colleague, telling stories and working together, we changed things.

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Being a changemaker is… understanding the power of collaboration

After that experience of working with my disabled colleague, I started valuing collaboration as a tool for change. I realised that telling your story is a hugely powerful thing, and I talked more with my colleagues about my experiences being LGBT+. By doing so, some of them came out to me in return! It felt like such a big win, and I knew I was making a difference.

I also collected my colleagues’ knowledge of local support systems to create a better LGBT+ noticeboard, which I now keep up to date by working with local groups and putting up their posters for upcoming events. And I continue to make displays and run events like Storytimes, but these are now flashier and more interactive, trying out new ways to get my audience involved.

I also started an annual LGBT+ staff reading challenge which I call Read with Pride.

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This always takes place in June as part of Pride celebrations. On the slide is the poster for last year’s Read with Pride challenge. The challenge last year was to read three books corresponding to the three categories, gaining a point for every book you read. And there were bonus points for things like reading about a variety of identities and reading about trans+ identities. Everyone was instructed to email me with all the book titles they read during the month, and I then created a leaderboard that was shared with the group. I also gave out prizes for everyone involved which were these “you are safe with me” pride badges.

I created the challenge because staff all completed diversity training, but I wanted something that would be more impactful. I wanted to do something that connected them with stories and was a bit more fun. I also, importantly, wanted to do an event that brought my colleagues into what I was trying to achieve with LGBT+ inclusion in the library.

During the challenge last year, staff started exploring our LGBT+ section at the library, reading books with representation, and talking to each other about the books and LGBT+ experiences. It was a success, and one I am working to improve upon this time as each year more people get involved and more staff members learn new things about being LGBT+.

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Being a changemaker is… bringing others into your vision

Wonderfully, I feel the culture is changing in my library. Including visibly with staff wearing those “you are safe with me” badges on their lanyards, the valued LGBT+ corner, and LGBT+ displays and events running throughout the year.

During the preparation of this year’s Read with Pride challenge, I invited my colleagues to come up with the reading challenge categories, and I’ve had quite a few responses that I have taken on board and will make people feel involved before the challenge has even begun. I’ve also already had staff members from other library branches in the borough express interest in joining the challenge.

Elsewhere in the library, I continue to read books with LGBT+ representation and themes in Storytimes, and I’ve received positive comments from families attending. The LGBT+ section has grown and diversified from my suggestions. And I’ve been watching the number of issues go up on LGBT+ books, meaning more people are taking these books out, which would definitely have something to do with our improved section and by promoting this stock with displays.

It’s not just about me – one person – doing things differently or forcing unwanted changes anymore. It’s now about all of us at the library wanting to make our libraries inclusive and welcoming to LGBT+ people, together.

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So that’s an overview of the sort of work I’ve been doing. I’ve learnt that being a changemaker is…
Recognising a problem and imagining a better future
Understanding the power of collaboration
and Bringing others into you vision

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