2025 �鶹��ý-Horrocks National Leadership Lecture & Award Presentation: Featuring Danielle Hubbard & Ashley Machum (Okanagan Public Library)

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 21:00:00 GMT

Lecture title: Drag Story Time: Leading library values

Event details:
Monday, February 3rd, 2025
5:00-6:30pm Atlantic standard time (AST)

Registration is required for ALL attendees (in-person seating is limited)

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Speakers: Danielle Hubbard, she/her, Chief Executive Officer of the Okanagan Regional Library / Ashley Machum, she/her, Head of Youth Services of the Okanagan Regional Library

Abstract: In recent years, Drag Story Times have become one of the most controversial children’s programming offerings in the public library world, striking electric chords with both the political left and right. The Okanagan Regional Library (ORL) has twice found itself at the centre of such controversy. In 2019, Ashley Machum (Head of Youth Services) organized the ORL’s first Drag Story Time, with no idea of the firestorm the program would incur. The ORL’s administration at the time opposed the program, on moral and religious grounds, placing Ashley and her colleagues at the centre of both an internal and an external conflict over intellectual freedom and inclusivity. In 2023, with Danielle Hubbard as the new CEO, the ORL offered another Drag Story Time. Due to the heightened political climate, the event was met with threats, protests, and national media coverage. This time, however, the ORL was unified in its support of the program, and its communication strategy. In this presentation, Ashley and Danielle each provide first-hand accounts of their experiences leading the ORL through these tumultuous events and discuss the core library values that guided their decisions.

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2025 �鶹��ý-Horrocks National Leadership Lecture & Award Presentation: Featuring Danielle Hubbard & Ashley Machum (Okanagan Public Library)