Tackling Sex Ed and Menstrual Literacy in Public Libraries

In an era when library services promoting gender equality and social justice are under attack, it’s time to lean in rather than back away. In this webinar, Rakisha Kearns-White will demonstrate how libraries can support menstrual literacy and advocacy and underscore the importance of providing unbiased and accurate access to sexuality education to tweens and teens.

Nearly half of the states in the U.S. have mandated sex education classes, but only 13 states require that sex education be medically accurate. In 2022, about 20.82 million women were living below the poverty line in the United States, and two-thirds of the low-income women in the US could not afford menstrual products in 2021. Nearly half of those women had to choose between menstrual products and food. The number of Americans living in poverty is rising, and the current political climate is making it more difficult for young adults to access sex education relevant to them. 

This event will show you how your library can contribute to closing the economic and political divide, one patron at a time.

By participating in this webinar, you will: 

• Learn how libraries can help patrons and communities separate discussions of menstruation from sex/pregnancy
• Gain an understanding of what period poverty is and how it manifests
• Learn how we can broaden the idea of sex education beyond biology
• Examine what sex ed and menstrual literacy can look like in a library
• Gain strategies for getting stakeholders on board

Rakisha Kearns-White is a 2023 Library Journal Mover and Shaker; a 2022 recipient of the Brooklyn Public Library's Dr. Lucille C. Thomas Excellence in Librarianship Award; and an 18+ year veteran as a YA Librarian at the Brooklyn Public Library. Rakisha has spoken about Menstrual Equity and Sex Ed in libraries at the New York Library Association, Metropolitan New York Council, Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California, and Greenburgh Public Library's 2022 FanCon. Rakisha has also presented at New York Comic Con in 2019 and 2023 and the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in 2022.

This event will be hosted in Zoom. Automatic captions will be enabled for this event. This event will be recorded, and registrants will receive access to the recording within a day after the event ends.

**NOTE**: Access information for this learning event will be sent to all registrants by American Library Association before the start of the event. In order to take this course/attend this webinar you will need to create (or use an existing) ALA account to proceed. It is free to create an account and you do not need to be an ALA member. If you do not wish to create an ALA account please cancel your registration.

CALL Training Partner for this Event: American Library Association