Welcome and Keynote: The Power of Being
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Start Date
10-12-2022 9:00 AM
End Date
10-12-2022 9:45 AM
Presentation Type
Presentation
Abstract
The power of Being plays a crucial role in our work as librarians and an even more critical role as community leaders—every time we choose to "be," we make a choice that has ripple effects. Whether you choose to be afraid, be visible, or be a leader, our actions shape our community. Drawing on personal experiences, Brandon West tells his Story of Being, which led to him becoming a Queer activist librarian, and founder of the leading nonprofit organization working to educate, empower and raise visibility for the over 2.9 Million LGBTQIA+ individuals who call rural America home.
Recommended Citation
West, Brandon, "Welcome and Keynote: The Power of Being" (2022). Kansas LGBTQ+ Leadership Symposium. 3.
DOI: 10.58809/UMVZ6076
Available at:
https://scholars.fhsu.edu/ks_lgbtq_symposium/presentations/Schedule/3
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Welcome and Keynote: The Power of Being
The power of Being plays a crucial role in our work as librarians and an even more critical role as community leaders—every time we choose to "be," we make a choice that has ripple effects. Whether you choose to be afraid, be visible, or be a leader, our actions shape our community. Drawing on personal experiences, Brandon West tells his Story of Being, which led to him becoming a Queer activist librarian, and founder of the leading nonprofit organization working to educate, empower and raise visibility for the over 2.9 Million LGBTQIA+ individuals who call rural America home.
Comments
Brandon West is the Development Coordinator at the Independence Public Library in rural Southeast Kansas. He earned his MLIS from Emporia State University in 2019. He founded Project Q&A in 2016 and has served as the Executive Director for the past seven years. Brandon is a fierce advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion and works to break down barriers for historically discriminated against people. In 2018, he was awarded the ALA's GLBT (Now Rainbow) Round Table Award for Political Activism. In 2019, he received the Independence Chamber of Commerce Diversity Task Force Spirt of Unity Award, and in 2021 received the Kansas Library Associations Presidential Award for New Professionals. In addition, he has presented at numerous conferences on "queering your library" and was the guest speaker at the Stonewall Inn's World Pride and 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising Pride Kick-off event in May 2019.