This June, the Free Library of Philadelphia commemorates LGBTQ+ Pride Month with events, programs, and resources that amplify LGBTQ+ voices and stories!
Begin your summer with the Free Library of Pride as we host LGBTQ+ crafting clubs, Quizzo, music events, reading circles, drag storytimes, and plenty of opportunities to interact with and learn about LGBTQ+ history. View the full Pride Month calendar online, and find a few examples of the great programs coming to a library near you below:
- LGBTQ+ Wellness Fair | Tuesday, May 30 at 2:00 p.m. → Nicetown-Tioga Library
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SAGA (Sexuality and Gender Acceptance): Vogue 101 with Jahad Martin | Thursday, June 1, at 3:00 p.m. → Field Teen Center at Parkway Central Library
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Pride Month Craft Club: Button Making | Tuesday, June 6, at 4:00 p.m. → Cecil B. Moore Library
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Queer Quizzo with Simone Allender | Wednesday, June 7, at 6:00 p.m. → Parkway Central Library
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Youth Queer Lit Fest | Saturday, June 24, at 1:00 p.m. → Philadelphia City Institute
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Drag Camp with Brittany Lynn | Wednesday, June 28, at 3:30 p.m. → Fishtown Community Library
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Debunking the Myths of Stonewall: an Evening with Mark Segal | Thursday, June 29, at 7:00 p.m. → Literature Department at Parkway Central Library
Interested in curating your reading list for Pride Month? Browse these Free Library book and materials lists, which include picture book recommendations, fiction and nonfiction, DVDs, nominees for the Stonewall and GLAAD Media awards, and much more! We also have book lists created by the Rainbow Connection, an LGBTQ+ group of library staff across all job classes that serve to support each other and Philadelphia's queer communities.
Would you like to learn more about Barbara Gittings and the Gittings Collection? Pride Month is the perfect time! Located at the Independence Library on S. 7th Street, the Gittings Collection is the largest LGBTQ+ public library collection east of San Francisco. Barbara passed away in 2007, but the collection continues as a tribute to her memory and her achievements. It currently serves our local Philadelphia community, but it also fills interlibrary loan requests from patrons throughout Pennsylvania and the United States.
Be sure to check out our recently updated LGBTQ+ Explore page, which includes helpful links to information and resources about health, activism, bullying, LGBTQ+ youth, legal support, and the important work of local LGBTQ+ organizations; podcasts from our Author Events series; and blog posts on a range of related topics, such as coming out at work and the history of drag storytimes and the controversy that often surrounds them.
Finally, support the Free Library Foundation and show off your Pride with the Free Library's original Pride design shirts:
We're excited to celebrate Pride Month with you!
Have a question for Free Library staff? Please submit it to our Ask a Librarian page and receive a response within 72 hours.