Each June, the Free Library of Philadelphia commemorates LGBTQ+ Pride Month with programs and resources that amplify LGBTQ+ voices and stories, and 2022 is no different! Begin your summer with the Free Library of Pride as we host Author Events, LGBTQ+ reading circles, drag storytimes, and plenty of opportunities to learn about LGBTQ+ history. View the full calendar online, and find a few examples of the great Pride programs coming to a library near you below:

• Starting June 1, join the Independence Library and participate in the Gittings Reading Contest! Borrow books from the renowned Barbara Gittings GLBT Collection, and enter to win prizes from local Philadelphia LGBTQ+ supported businesses throughout the month. 
• On June 2, the Philadelphia City Institute invites you to make a Pride button! Library lovers of all ages are invited to participate.
• The Field Teen Center will host a special Pride Month SAGA (Sexuality and Gender Acceptance) Club Party for teens on Friday, June 10. SAGA is a space where LGBTQ+ youth and their allies meet to socialize and discuss issues affecting the queer community. This program is for ages 12–18.
• The Walnut Street West Library is hosting Philly Gay Games Fest on Monday, June 13. The event will showcase independent game designers in the LGBTQ+ community! Come meet the designers and play their games.

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 reads, DVDs, nominees for the Stonewall and GLAAD Media awards, and much more! We've also got lists specially 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 communities, but also fills interlibrary loan requests from patrons throughout Pennsylvania and the United States.

Finally, be sure to check out our LGBTQ+ Resources Page, which includes helpful links to information 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.

We're excited to celebrate Pride Month with you!