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School librarians make important decisions about materials to include in school library collections when they purchase literature for their libraries. They often consult book review sources and selection aides, such as those I mentioned above, to make decisions (Bishop, 2012). In the absence of the time or capacity to read every book that is purchased for a school library, these reviews guide librarians who are attempting to find the books that students need and will enjoy. These book reviews offer short critiques (5–10 sentences) of the books and often alert librarians to any content that could be perceived as controversial, including violence, profanity, and sexuality (American Library Association [ALA], 2015). Sexual orientation continues to be viewed as a controversial theme for librarians who question the boundaries of acceptable content of their public school collections and worry about book challenges from parents and communities (ALA, 2015). Despite the American Library Association’s plea in “The Freedom to Read Statement” (2006) to uphold students’ First Amendment rights and make materials available in libraries as well as the publication of collection development manuals that spell out best practices for selecting a wide range of materials for school library collections (Bishop, 2012), pervasive questions still circulate about what is appropriate for certain age groups with regard to “controversial” content related to gender and sexuality (e.g., Scales, 2015a; Scales, 2015b). Other scholarship has suggested that there is a need for more attention to materials that include sexuality and LGBTQ themes in classrooms (e.g., Ashcraft, W hen the junior high school where I work established a GSA (gay straight alliance), I began working with its student members to both build our LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer and/or questioning) school library collection and make it visible. As is my practice (and that of many other school librarians), I turned to professional publications like School Library Journal and Library Media Connection to read LGBTQ literature reviews. However, as a practicing school librarian and literacy researcher, I became frustrated by the lack of published books recommended for a junior high audience. In my closer examination, patterns emerged in the book reviews I read in these professional publications. The reviews typically recommended LGBTQ-themed texts for an older, high school audience. The reviews were also regularly written in a cautionary tone that implied that school librarians ought to be wary when thinking about purchasing these books, or they recommended LGBTQ-themed books only if the school library was serving LGBTQ students. This language implies both that not all schools serve LGBTQ students and that non-LGBTQ students would not benefit from or enjoy reading about the experiences of LGBTQ characters. I began to wonder how these book reviews might be influencing school librarians’ decisions about purchasing books. Might book reviews be working to restrict access to ideas and information that our students are entitled to and that school librarians are responsible to provide (American Library Association, 2006)? The study I detail in this article explores these questions.

Reviewing to Exclude?: Critical Discourse Analysis of YA LGBTQ Book Reviews for School Librarians