The Rainbow Read-In: A Place to Build Community

The UMKC University Libraries held the second Rainbow Read-In (RRI) virtually in June 2022. Readers presented either their own works if they identify as LGBTQIA+ or works written by LGBTQIA+ authors. Nine participants presented and sixty people attended. Our first Rainbow Read-In included ten presenters and forty attendees in 2021. The goal of this presentation is to share how we created a safe space to showcase works from within the queer community. The objectives of this program are to discuss the origins of the RRI, the formation of the committee, lessons learned, short- and long-term goals, potential areas for improvement, and examples of the range of queer voices represented. New events usually take time to become established, but our event had a head start. UMKC University Libraries hosted the first African American Read-In (AARI) in 2009. As the co-chair of the AARI committee for six years and the creator of the RRI, this presentation will address how the AARI served as a foundation and inspiration for creating a safe and supportive environment for building community for the RRI. We created the transformative program that we wanted to attend. The initial success of this innovative event proves that, as a bunch of library nerds, if you build it, they will come.