Dawn Betts-Green

Say It In 6: "Be the person younger me needed." I grew up in a small, conservative Alabama town, and my safe space, my haven, was our public library. The librarians knew me by name and left me to wander in the stacks however I pleased. This was more important than they knew. At 12, I realized I was a lesbian, and my religious surroundings did not make this a pleasant discovery. I hid it and searched diligently in the library for help. I was outed just prior to my senior year and faced constant harassment; the only public space I felt safe enough to be in by myself was the library. There were few LGBTQ resources on the shelves, but what little I found was comforting. I entered my discipline to help small and rural libraries (those in the South in particular) be better prepared when people like 16-year-old me wander in. Dawn is a 2016 Point Foundation Scholarship recipient.