Executive Director
Currently Reading
The Hidden Life of Trees by
In 1957, Frank Kameny, a rising astronomer working for the U.S. Defense Department in Hawaii, received a summons to report immediately to Washington, D.C. The Pentagon had reason to believe he was a homosexual, and after a series of humiliating interviews, Kameny, like countless gay men and women before him, was promptly dismissed from his government job. Unlike many others, though, Kameny fought back.
Based on firsthand accounts, recently declassified FBI records, and forty thousand personal documents, Eric Cervini's The Deviant's War unfolds over the course of the 1960s, as the Mattachine Society of Washington, the group Kameny founded, became the first organization to protest the systematic persecution of gay federal employees. It traces the forgotten ties that bound gay rights to the Black Freedom Movement, the New Left, lesbian activism, and trans resistance. Above all, it is a story of America (and Washington) at a cultural and sexual crossroads; of shocking, byzantine public battles with Congress; of FBI informants; murder; betrayal; sex; love; and ultimately victory.
Call Number: 306.766092 CERVINIISBN: 9781771643481Publication Date: 2018-08-28
About Jason
Jason Homer is the Executive Director of the Worcester Public Library, an institution founded in 1859, which provides the City of Worcester with resources to inform, enlighten, and enrich the lives of all members of the community. Appointed Executive Director by the Worcester Public Library Board of Directors in December of 2020, Jason brings a proven record of building collaborative relationships with community organizations, and a history of developing forward-thinking programs and initiatives. Throughout his career in libraries, he has held a position in every library department within a library, something he believes enables him to form a comprehensive and innovative vision of library services. Jason is focused on building dynamic and diverse library services that meet the needs and exceed the expectations of the city, both now and in the future.
The Worcester Public Library is a seven-branch library system, with the Main Library at 3 Salem Square, the Frances Perkins Branch on West Boylston Street, Great Brook Valley in the Great Brook Valley housing complex, and four One City, One Library Branches at the four public elementary schools of Roosevelt, Tatnuck Magnet, Goddard School of Science and Technology, and Burncoat Street Preparatory School. The library also has two bookmobiles, Libby and Lilly, which serve neighborhoods throughout the city as well as many of the city’s schools.
Jason grew up in Brockton, MA where he attended Brockton High School. He received a Bachelor’s in English from Stonehill College and a Master’s in Library and Information Science from Simmons University. He was invited to attend the American Library Association (ALA) Leadership Institute in 2017 and received a Certificate in Local Government Leadership and Management from Suffolk University in 2020. Prior to joining the Worcester Public Library, Jason was the Director of the Morse Institute Library in Natick, and worked in the communities of Marlborough, Wellesley, and Middleborough, as well as the libraries of Regis College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
Current Committees and Boards:
PLA Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships Committee Member (2023 - present)
Worcester Cultural Coalition (2020 - present)
Worcester Area Research Collaborative (2020 - present)
Central Massachusetts Library Advocates (2020 - present)
MBLC PR Committee (2016 - present)