New nonprofit looking to expand LGBTQ+ resources
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – A new nonprofit literary resource will be available in community markets soon, hoping to combat book bans.
Carabiner Collections started in the fall of 2023, creating a library of LGBTQ+ resources. This idea came from similar libraries the group saw in other states. Co-founder and Director Jordan Anderson says the library will help people learn more about their identities.
“It was just a lot of fun getting it started. But then once we started getting books and started building what you see behind me, it just got to be really overwhelmingly happy. Like these books are now a part of me, they’re a part of all of us and they’re open to the community and it’s really important, I think, for everybody to have these resources available in a place where they weren’t previously,” Anderson said.
Co-founder and Director Jenna Turpin says the group hit the ground running after the idea came to them. Now, they’re seeing support from all over.
“We’ve been getting a lot of support from all across the country and all across the world actually from authors who have donated books and also from bookstores. There’s one in Denver, Colorado, Second Star to the Right, and this week they donated a huge box of books for us, children’s books and those donations are just so valuable to us because it lends to our collection of about 500 books now and having those diverse titles allows for people to find whatever they’re looking for,” Turpin said.
The library is currently run out of various storage locations in College Station and at the TAMU Wildlife, Fisheries and Ecological Sciences Building. Soon, the group hopes to appear at local events like the Farmers Market and First Friday.
Resources can be accessed from their website, users make an account and can begin checking out books within two days.
