Kate Reynolds, also known as the Lavender Librarian, is the founder and director of Storytime Solidarity. Based in Ontario, Canada, Kate has been working in public libraries since 2010. She is also a sought after international keynote speaker, trained opera singer, patient advocate, writer, and content creator with a large social-media following. Kate’s international advocacy has brought her to high-level events in Sweden, Hungary, Canada, Kenya, and the United States. Kate holds masters degrees in musicology and library science at Western University as well as a bachelor of music in vocal performance at the University of Windsor. Openly disabled and autistic, Kate is always working to make the world a kinder place, through the sharing of stories.
In 2021, Kate founded Storytime Solidarity as a Facebook group working in solidarity to make storytime more inclusive. This quickly grew into an international organization run by a Global team of volunteers. Today, the group has over 6,000 members on Facebook, an active presence on all major social media platforms, and a website that welcomes a thousand unique users each week. The Solidarity team also had the honor of presenting the 2023 AB kids series through the University of South Carolina School of Library and Information Science, as part of their children, libraries and literacy initiative. The chair and series honors the legacy of Augusta Braxton Baker, the first African American, coordinator of the children’s services with NYPL and a role model for librarians.
Kate’s first book, Storytime Deconstructed, co-authored with Illinois resident – and storytime Solidarity deputy director – Rosie Camargo (she/her/ella) will be released in 2025 with ALA Editions. You can also find Storytime Solidarity courses in Niche Academy in late 2024 or early 2025.
In addition to her work in libraries, Kate is also a professional singer and a patient advocate.
Kate is a librarian in Ontario, Canada. She has been working in public libraries since 2010.
Patient Advocacy
Kate’s medical advocacy work began in 2020 when she decided to share her autism diagnosis and has taken her to places she never imagined! She’s now a transcontinental patient advocate having travelled to Budapest, Niagara Falls, NYC, and Stockholm. With more travel planned including an upcoming trip to Nairobi, Kenya in her role as an IFPA Ambassador.
Kate lives with multiple rare and complicated medical conditions. She was diagnosed with Generalized Pustular Psoriasis (GPP), a rare, severe, and life threatening from of psoriatic illness in 2019 after receiving a biopsy while hospitalized. Currently in remission, she now works to help others have access to diagnosis and treatment so that fewer folks will lose their lives to this complex and poorly-understood NCD (non-communicable disease).
Kate also lives with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), a slightly less rare, medical condition. Due to family history, her parents knew there was a chance she’d have OI. She was diagnosed shortly after birth and broke her leg twice while learning how to walk.
She is so grateful for the accommodations partner organizations have made to make travel possible for her and wishes they were available to all. Kate travels with a companion, uses accessible travel supports, including wearing a Sunflower lanyard (for invisible disabilities), and uses assistive devices frequently enough that she’s written children’s songs about them.
In the News
CBC News
https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-106-windsor-morning/clip/16171701-windsor-librarian-speak-united-nations-general-assembly
Windsor librarian Kate Reynolds on why Elmo’s simple question struck a chord
Miss Kate holds virtual story-time readings for kids
Should you start a reading goal? Here’s what a Windsor librarian recommends
Quoted in LGBT Nation:
Kate Reynolds, a queer children’s librarian who runs The Lavender Librarian Facebook page and is the creator of Storytime Solidarity, tells LGBTQ Nation that when people challenge books, they often ask for mass bans – hundreds of titles in a single request. Thus, to consider removing or banning books, librarians need to deal with a lot of paperwork.
On Neurodivergence in Marie Claire:
In a piece for The Mighty, librarian Kate Reynolds writes, “Life before I knew I had dyspraxia was full of unknown terrors and humiliations.” But it was more than that, she tells me: “I always knew something was wrong, and I didn’t know what. I felt a great deal of shame. I thought maybe things were this hard to everyone and I was just a failure who never bothered to try hard enough.”
As a Singer
CBC News
Quoted in LGBT Nation:
Kate Reynolds, a queer children’s librarian who runs The Lavender Librarian Facebook page and is the creator of Storytime Solidarity, tells LGBTQ Nation that when people challenge books, they often ask for mass bans – hundreds of titles in a single request. Thus, to consider removing or banning books, librarians need to deal with a lot of paperwork.
On Neurodivergence in Marie Claire:
In a piece for The Mighty, librarian Kate Reynolds writes, “Life before I knew I had dyspraxia was full of unknown terrors and humiliations.” But it was more than that, she tells me: “I always knew something was wrong, and I didn’t know what. I felt a great deal of shame. I thought maybe things were this hard to everyone and I was just a failure who never bothered to try hard enough.”