“It's Hard to See How These Would be Harmful to Kids”: Public Library Staff Perceptions of Child Development and Drag Queen Storytimes

This paper reports preliminary results of a survey of 458 US public library staff members regarding their perceptions of drag queen storytimes (DQS) and the ways in which these storytimes influence child development. The majority of respondents from libraries that have hosted at least one DQS agreed that DQS support healthy child development and positively influence children’s understanding of gender and/or sexuality, while respondents from libraries that have not hosted DQS were more likely to disagree or report being undecided. Specific ways in which respondents perceive DQS to influence child development are also analyzed. Cet article presente les resultats preliminaires d'une enquete menee aupres de 458 membres du personnel de la bibliotheque publique concernant leurs perceptions des heures du conte de drag queen (HCDQ) et la maniere dont ces heures du conte influencent le developpement de l'enfant. La majorite des repondants des bibliotheques qui ont heberge au moins une HCDQ ont convenu que l'activite soutient le developpement sain de l'enfant et influence positivement la comprehension des enfants du genre et/ou de la sexualite, tandis que les repondants des bibliotheques qui n'ont pas heberge de HCDQ etaient plus susceptibles d'etre en desaccord ou de declarer etre indecis. Les manieres specifiques dont les repondants percoivent l'HCDQ comme influencant le developpement de l'enfant sont egalement analysees.