Barbara Gittings Dies at 75
By Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 3/15/2007
Barbara Gittings, the force behind the American Library Association’s (ALA) Gay Task Force (now the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table [GLBTRT]) and an early pioneer in gay rights, died February 18 at the age of 75. Although not a librarian, Gittings was involved with ALA for more than 20 years. In 2003, she was awarded ALA’s highest recognition, an honorary membership. GLBTRT now sponsors the Stonewall Book Awards, and the literature award is named for Gittings.
When honored by ALA in 2003, Gittings was cited for programs that highlighted the availability of gay materials for library use. In 1971, for example, she helped to establish the Gay Book Award. She was a past member of the Endowment Committee for the Hormel Center Gay and Lesbian Library at the San Francisco Public Library. At the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Independence Branch, she was honored with the Barbara Gittings Gay/Lesbian Collection of circulating materials.
