The calendar was born as an idea, one cold January night while watching over my three-year-old son as he slept. He had been diagnosed with Type One diabetes aged two. As I spent another sleepless night hourly monitoring his blood sugar levels, I decided I wanted to do something to raise awareness about this life-threatening disease and to raise funds for research into a cure.

Photography Naomi Woddis

I avoid all competitive or challenging sports, but I am good at bringing people together to get creative. I decided I would use my skills and connections as a poet and independent publisher to do exactly that. With a goal of raising £10,000 and getting 10,000 people talking about diabetes (10,000 is the number of times my son will be pricked with a needle each year) I began brainstorming.

Photography Annabel Williams

‘My husband’s joking suggestion that I make a calendar of beautiful naked male poets started my brain whirring. Okay, I thought, we might have something a bit different here.’

My husband’s joking suggestion that I make a calendar of beautiful naked male poets started my brain whirring. Okay, I thought, we might have something a bit different here. What if I could bring together male poets, female photographers and poetry by female poets, in a creative collaboration that would explore and celebrate the role of the muse?

Photography Tamara Peel

‘The images started arriving and we began to see something beautiful and exciting, a celebration not only of male beauty, but also of female creativity.’

It took more than eight months to bring 41 artists together, and two months of madness to bring the creative vision into a reality. By early September, the images started arriving and we began to see something beautiful and exciting, a celebration not only of male beauty, but also of female creativity: collaboration, community and positive creative action to make a difference and bring about change.

All profits from the calendar, which is on sale now, will go to charities working to support diabetes research, including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Order The naked muse 2012 calendar from www.wildwomenpress.com for a special price of £12.99 (includes worldwide shipping) until 13 November, thereafter £14.99 including worldwide shipping.

Photography - Ricardo Louis http://ricardolouis.com

It all started a few years ago when two of my colleagues and I learnt of another library-themed calendar, The tattooed ladies of the Texas library association. We shared the same reaction – ‘Cool, but… what about us? Where are all the men?’ We also felt that that calendar reinforced the stereotype of librarians as people who wear glasses, shelve according to the Dewey Decimal System and are exclusively female.

‘Three of us decided to make our own calendar that represented the professional and personal interests of male librarians around the country.’

Three of us decided to make our own calendar that represented the professional and personal interests of male librarians around the country.

It wasn’t going to be quite that simple, though. Although the matter has now been resolved, one model was confronted by his human resources manager and threatened with legal action for appearing in the calendar. Then, the trustees of a fund we’d selected to donate the proceeds to – a library fund supporting intellectual freedom and opposing censorship – told us they would not adopt or endorse The men of the stacks fundraiser. We’ve now decided to support a different organisation, It gets better, an organisation that supports GLBT young people and shows them that love and happiness can be a reality in their future.

Our project has two goals: to help alter the perception of professional librarians and do some good for the world. So, who are we? We are educators, programmers, project managers, entrepreneurs, contractors, consultants and speakers. We are academics. We are authors, historians, deans, professors and researchers. We are creatives. We are musicians, bakers, painters and storytellers. We are yogis, gym-rats, runners and hikers. We are dog-lovers, radicals, conservatives, Christians and Buddhists. We are in our twenties. We are in our forties. We try to use our advantages to better the lives of others. We are The men of the stacks.

The men of the stacks 2012 calendar is available at menofthestacks.com for $US19.95 + shipping. You can also email info@menofthestacks.com for more information.