DENVER — A bookstore in Denver is helping LGBTQ+ people in Texas access books that they identify with. The Lone Star State led the nation in book bans last school year, according to Pen America. Those efforts left students in rural Texas with little to no access to certain books.
"It's extremely upsetting it's awful," Sophie Nogar said. "To get those taken away, that's not fair, it's not OK."
Nogar is the store manager of Second Star to the Right, a Denver independent children's book store on South Pearl Street. The bookstore recently connected with Carabiner Collections to help their efforts in bringing access to these books.
"When we heard about Carabiner Collections wanting to make this library how could we not help out with that? It's very important," Nogar explained.
Carabiner Collections is a group based near College Station, north of Houston. It's creating a community library of LGBTQ+ books for those who need them. Second Star is collecting books to donate to the efforts.
Pan America estimates Texas banned 438 books in the 2022-2023 school year.
"We believe that everyone has the right to read and read a book that maybe they find themselves in or learn about themselves or learn about others too because we’re not all the same," Nogar added. "Turning to a book is always a great resource."
Second Star said they've sent about 30 books so far. They collect books at their store but customers can also purchase them to donate online. Nogar said they're sending LGBTQ+ books ranging from children's to adults and even some parent resources.
Nogar believes access to these books can be life-changing.
"Absolutely," she stressed. "Even if you don’t identify as queer and you read books it’ll help you understand others. We’re just going to keep going until we can fill up their library."
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