Jump to content

Celeste West

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Celeste West
tight headshot of a grinning white older woman with shoulder length hair standing on front of a card catalog
Born(1942-11-24)November 24, 1942
Pocatello, Idaho, U.S.
DiedJanuary 3, 2008(2008-01-03) (aged 65)
EducationPortland State University (BA)
Rutgers University

Celeste (Celestia) West (November 24, 1942 – January 3, 2008) was an American librarian and lesbian author, known for her alternative viewpoints in librarianship and her authorship of books about lesbian sex and polyfidelity. She herself was polyamorous.[1]

Biography

[edit]

West was born in Pocatello, Idaho.[2][3][4] She earned her BA in journalism from Portland State University,[5] and her Master's in Library Service from Rutgers University in 1968.[6] She then moved to San Francisco, where she worked at the headquarters of the Bay Area Reference Center at the San Francisco Public Library.[7] She was the second editor of its magazine, Synergy, which won two ALA awards but lost its funding in 1973 after West published an unflattering photograph of Richard Nixon.[8][9]

In 1972, West co-founded Booklegger Press, the first woman-owned American library publisher,[10][11][12] with Sue Critchfield (her partner at the time) and Valerie Wheat. The press' first publication was an anthology edited by West and Elizabeth Katz entitled Revolting Librarians. The anthology, which described biases in contemporary library practices and proposed alternative library models, sold 15,000 copies in three years.[4] She also published the feminist library journal Booklegger Magazine from 1973 through 1976.[13] Between 1989 and 2006, West worked as the library director at the San Francisco Zen Center.[14]

Selected works

[edit]
  • Revolting Librarians (editor, 1972)
  • Women's Films in Print (1975)
  • Positive Images: Non-Sexist Films for Young People (1976)
  • The Passionate Perils of Publishing (1978)
  • The Public Library Mission Statement and Its Imperatives for Service (1979)
  • Where Have All the Publishers Gone? (1980)
  • Book of Lesbian Etiquette (1985)
  • Words in Our Pockets (1985)
  • Elsa: I Come With My Songs (editor, 1986)
  • A Lesbian Love Advisor (illustrated by Nicole Ferentz, 1989)[15]
  • Lesbian Polyfidelity (illustrated by Nicole Ferentz, 1996)[16]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Samek, Toni; Roberto, Keller R.; Lang, Moyra, eds. (2010). "Selected Writings of Celeste West". She was a Booklegger: Remembering Celeste West. Library Juice Press. pp. 217, 218, 219. ISBN 9781936117444.
  2. ^ West, Celeste (1989). A Lesbian Love Advisor. Pittsburgh: Cleis Press. p. 190. ISBN 0-939416-26-3.
  3. ^ Johnson, Sue Ann West (2010). "San Francisco Zen Center, February 23, 2008". In Samek, Toni; Roberto, Keller R.; Lang, Moyra (eds.). She was a Booklegger: Remembering Celeste West. Library Juice Press. p. 81. ISBN 9781936117444.
  4. ^ a b Samek, Toni (2010). "Unbossed and Unbought: Booklegger Press, the First Woman-Owned American Library Publisher". In Samek, Toni; Roberto, Keller R.; Lang, Moyra (eds.). She was a Booklegger: Remembering Celeste West. Library Juice Press. p. 15. ISBN 9781936117444.
  5. ^ "Celeste West Obituary". San Francisco Chronicle. 2008-01-20. Retrieved September 10, 2021 – via Legacy.com.
  6. ^ "610:501 Introduction to Library and Information Professions: Who We Are: Alumni". Rutgers School of Communication and Information. Rutgers University. Archived from the original on 29 July 2014.
  7. ^ Samek, Toni; Lang, Moyra; Roberto, Keller R. (2010). She was a Booklegger: Remembering Celeste West. Library Juice Press, LLC. p. 226. ISBN 978-1-936117-44-4.
  8. ^ Samek, Toni; Lang, Moyra; Roberto, Keller R. (2010). She was a Booklegger: Remembering Celeste West. Library Juice Press, LLC. p. 228. ISBN 978-1-936117-44-4.
  9. ^ Wiley, Peter Booth (1996). A Free Library in this City: The Illustrated History of the San Francisco Public Library. San Francisco: Weldon Owen. p. 178. ISBN 9781875137053.
  10. ^ "Celeste West Leaves Legacy of Work for Peace, Justice" (PDF). GLBTRT Newsletter. Vol. 20, no. 1. 2008. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  11. ^ "Celeste West Papers" (2016). Prepared for the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center, San Francisco Public Library. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
  12. ^ Samek, Toni; Lang, Moyra; Roberto, Keller R. (2010). She Was a Booklegger: Remembering Celeste West. Library Juice Press. p. 30. ISBN 978-1-936117-44-4.
  13. ^ "Obituaries". American Libraries. 39 (3): 73. 2008. ISSN 0002-9769. JSTOR 27771488.
  14. ^ Perricone, Tina (29 February 2008). "Remembering Celeste West (1942–2008)". San Francisco Zen Center. Archived from the original on 2012-04-15. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
  15. ^ West, Celeste (1989). A Lesbian Love Advisor. Pittsburgh: Cleis Press. ISBN 0-939416-26-3.
  16. ^ West, Celeste (1995). Lesbian Polyfidelity. Booklegger. ISBN 9780912932156.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Celeste_West&oldid=1299330840"