The Timeliest Children’s Book Collection in the Nation: A Visit to the Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Special Collection

Book banners with a penchant for harping on queer children’s literature exude, I’ve noticed, a sense that children’s books on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum are a new creation. That they haven’t been around for decades, long before the current cultural moment. But it wasn’t until I heard about the Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Special Collection (1969-2023) housed at the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco that I had given much thought to permanent collections of our oldest queer titles specifically written for children and teens.

Today, we sit down with librarian and archivist Myles Cooper to discuss the collection’s origins, its contents, and where it may be headed in the future. Please enjoy this Q&A with Myles, followed by our video discuss, where we delve a little more deeply into some of these questions:

Betsy Bird: Myles! I can’t thank you enough for answering my questions today. Now when I learned that the Mechanics’ Institute is the home of The Tarpey-Schwed LGBT Families Children’s Book Special Collection, I was more than a little curious. This collection is more than 50 years old, making it more than a little unique. Do we know how it came to be?

Myles Cooper: It really started from a very practical place. Randall Tarpey-Schwed and his husband Mark were raising their daughters and, like any reading family, they wanted books that reflected their kids’ reality, two dads, a loving home. Randy began collecting titles that showed families like theirs, and over the years it grew into this deep, intentional collection.

When he was looking for a permanent home, I immediately saw how special it was. I’d worked with LGBTQ+ families in San Francisco public schools before coming to the Mechanics’ Institute, so I understood both the power and the rarity of these stories. We’re an independent member-supported library that’s proudly book-ban and censorship-resistant, with a long history of supporting writers and readers of all kinds. Adding this as a Special Collection felt like a natural fit, especially because it documents something often overlooked even in queer archives: the experience of children and the evolution of family-affirming children’s literature. It aligns perfectly with our mission of inclusivity and reflecting the Bay Area’s families and values. We’re thrilled it’s here and committed to stewarding it thoughtfully.

BB: For many of us, a collection of this kind is interesting and, at the same time, difficult to comprehend. How has it grown over the years? Who has added to it? And what makes a book worthy of inclusion?

Myles: It’s still relatively new to us. We acquired it recently, but the foundation Randy built is remarkable. It focuses on the earliest materials that trace the development of LGBTQ+ family representation in children’s books. We’re actively growing it and welcome donations or suggestions that add to that historical through-line.

What makes a book worthy? It’s about documenting the story of this literature. Books that were brave, sometimes self-published or from small feminist presses, that dared to show families with same-gender parents at a time when that was radical. We’re not trying to be exhaustive on every recent title. The core is preserving that early history so researchers, writers, and educators can trace how themes, illustrations, and narratives have evolved. It’s a research collection first and foremost.

BB: Familiar, as you are, with the collection, how have LGBTQIA+ books for children changed over the decades? And with that in mind, what would you say is the current state of queer books for children today?

Myles: One of the most fascinating things is seeing how the storytelling itself has shifted. Early books often had to explain or defend these families, sometimes including prejudice or origin stories that, in hindsight, weren’t always age-appropriate. Over time, we’ve moved toward stories where having two moms or two dads is simply part of the fabric of a child’s life, warm, affirming, and not the entire plot. That feels like real progress.

Today, though, the landscape is complicated by the wave of challenges and bans. A lot of the conversation is dominated by censorship battles, which makes it harder to talk about the creative side. Publishers sometimes play it safe. At the same time, there’s wonderful new work coming out. Grandad’s Pride by Harry Woodgate stands out to me for its joy, detail-richness, and normalcy.

What excites me is that our collection gives people a place to study that full arc, from the pioneering titles out of Lollipop Power Press and Alyson Wonderland to what’s being published now. It’s a resource for anyone asking those deeper questions about representation.

BB: This is a question that I’ve been asked over the years and have been hard pressed to answer. Maybe you’ll have a better sense of it, but what, to your mind, is the true first queer children’s book published in the United States? And is it in the collection?

Myles: I’m hesitant to crown any single “true first” because these things are always a bit subjective. Different people define “queer” or “out” representation in different ways. But the collection includes the groundbreaking early titles that scholars and collectors point to as foundational. Things like When Megan Went Away from 1979 from the feminist Lollipop Power Press, which portrayed a lesbian relationship. And Your Family, My Family from 1980, which showed both parents together in a same-gender household. It also has the first widely distributed U.S. title featuring a gay male couple raising a child, the English translation of Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin.

We see the collection as a place where people can come explore these questions themselves. That’s part of why we partnered with the local startup Librar.AI, to build a discovery layer that lets researchers search by themes, emotional contexts, and nuances that traditional cataloging sometimes misses. It turns the collection into a living tool for inquiry.

BB: Finally, can you speak a bit about the importance of maintaining this collection and its place in the greater pantheon of children’s literature? Where do you see it going in the future?

Myles: These books belong in the broader story of children’s literature just as much as any other groundbreaking work. They’re not a niche footnote. They document a profound shift in how we portray American families. In an era of book challenges, having a permanent, accessible home for them feels especially vital. It’s a sanctuary for titles that might otherwise slip out of print or out of reach.

Looking ahead, we want to keep growing it thoughtfully, always with that focus on historical development and research value. We hope it inspires other libraries to think about what “special collections” can mean today. Community-driven, responsive to the lives people are actually living, and committed to preserving stories that matter right now, not just century-old rarities.

At the Mechanics’ Institute, we see this as part of our role: protecting access to ideas, supporting scholarship, and making sure the full record of our cultural moment is here for future generations. Researchers, authors, educators, and families are all welcome to dive in. The collection is here to spark exactly those conversations.

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And here’s our discussion:

Myles mentioned two links in the course of this talk. If you’re curious about this collection and wish to explore it further, consider the following:

• Special Collection: https://www.milibrary.org/research-and-resources/lgbt-families-collection/
• Discovery Portal: https://tarpey-schwed-special-collection.vercel.app/

Huge thanks to Myles for taking the time and to Makenzi Jordan Rodriguez for helping to put this all together. You can also read the PW article Preserving a Vital Chapter in LGBTQ Children’s Literature for additional information.

Filed under: Interviews