Assessing Fatphobia in Public Library Programming: Is Wellness Size-Inclusive?

Abstract

This content analysis of wellness-related library programs and programming materials seeks to discover the perception of larger bodies within library health programming. Fatphobia or sizeism is prevalent in the wellness industry and within healthcare. Libraries are trusted resources for health information. Informed by the fields of fat studies, we approached health programming in libraries by asking if larger people would feel welcome and able to attend. We examined twenty libraries’ programs over the past year as well as library conference programs and programming materials from several websites. There was little evidence of explicit sizeism, but some resources reproduced sizeist stereotypes and language. This presentation takes a fat pedagogy approach to focus on methods for ensuring access to all and expanding current definitions of inclusivity so that people with larger bodies recognize that libraries are welcoming spaces.