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Language: en

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[Music]
I'm James Arnold you can call me Jimmy

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and I use hitam pronouns I'm an activist
punk rocker baby librarian writer book

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lover and sister I grew up in Rochester
and I've been coming to the Rochester

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Public Libraries since I was very very
small my like actual involvement with

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the library in terms of programs started
when I was about 13 and I put a

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suggestion in the suggestion box that
was like we start a writing group for

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teens the teen librarian sent me an
email cuz I left my email on the

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suggestion and she actually thought I
was like an adult person and she was

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like well if you can find teenagers to
come to this program we can have it and

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I was like I'm 13 years old and I will
bring all my friends she was like also

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you should join the team library council
so the rest is history

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I did not have a community where I felt
at home I was in a really dark place and

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I was hurting a lot and I was so so
lucky to find a community interaction

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Public Library the only person for a
long time that calming the name that I

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wanted to be called before I like had
the guts to come out to anybody else and

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to say this is who I am this is what's
going on was a library I think the most

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important part of Rochester public
libraries serving underserved

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communities is its openness to work with
them personally and to take advice and

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to take feedback and to turn that into
an even better more awesome library for

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example when we noticed that there was
an issue with queer kids being

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underserved in the community we started
a group and now we meet up every week

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and it is not only helped me but a
number of other people there are people

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who will tell you including myself that
being able to be a part of that save

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their life as a creative person and as a
creative person in a frequently

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marginalized community having my voice
in the world was really really important

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to me not only for my own sake and
sanity but for other people who might

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need that one of the most powerful ways
to reach somebody is to tell your story

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and so after we started a writing group
and we're like where can we take this

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where can we put this and I was like I
know a thing we can

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some scenes and we've been making them
every sever since it's like 30 or 50 or

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something that we've put out so today at
the Rochester Public Library

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there is a nationwide walkout so kids
are walking out of schools to protest

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the sort of pervasive gun violence in
our country but we do well here today I

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would not have that opportunity without
the library letting us use their space

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and supplies to get our voice out there
but I would like to continue to work

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with queer teenagers who are maybe in
the same place that I was I would like

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to tell them yeah you are the person
that you say you are you are a real

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whole person and it's bookkeeping again
and you have the right to exist you have

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the right to be loved
[Music]

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you
[Music]