http://glbtrt.ala.org/rainbowbooks/archives/1207

The Rainbow Book List Committee proudly announces the 2016 Rainbow List. The Rainbow List is a bibliography of books with significant gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning content, and which are aimed at youth, birth through age 18. The list is intended to aid youth in selecting high-quality books that were published between July 2014 and December 2015. The list also is intended to aid as a collection development or readers’ advisory tool for librarians serving children and young adults.

The committee members evaluated over 250 books from small, independent, and large publishers, and selected 40 books from 27 publishers for the 2016 Rainbow List. The list also includes three additional books selected by the Stonewall Book Awards Committee as Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s & Young Adult Award or Honor Books.

Starred titles indicate the Rainbow List’s Top Ten choices from the list, highlighting books of exceptional queer representation and literary merit to receive particular commendation.

The committee members would like to note the staggering increase in number of books of quality that fit the criteria of the list, as well as a number of books with bisexual and intersex representation. The committee would also like to draw attention to the decrease in books for younger readers, as well as the continued small numbers of LGBTQ characters of color or with disabilities. Also, as in previous years, high-quality nonfiction, including memoirs and history so vital to tying a culture together, remains sparse.

The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Round Table of the American Library Association is committed to serving the information needs of the GLBT professional library community, and the GLBT information and access needs of individuals at large.  We are committed to encouraging and supporting the free and necessary access to all information, as reflected by the missions of the American Library Association.