Every June the Free Library celebrates LGBTQIA+ Pride Month. The Free Library aims to be a place where everyone belongs. We value the LGBTQIA+ community, including transgender people and transgender youth, as one of many valued communities we serve in Philadelphia. We uphold our commitment to providing services, programming, and materials to the LGBTQIA+ community, including transgender youth and adults — and to providing a safe space for transgender patrons and staff as we aim to provide for all patrons and staff.
This June, the Free Library of Philadelphia commemorates Queer Philadelphia History with events, programs, and resources that amplify LGBTQIA+ history!
View the full Pride Month calendar online, and find a few examples of the great programs coming to a library near you below:
- Queer Quizzo with Andrew White | Monday, June 3 at 6:00 p.m. → Room 215 in Parkway Central Library
- CHECK IT OUT! A Beardmobile Library Tour | Tuesday, June 4 at 4:00 p.m. → Wynnefield Library
- Ants on a Log Pride Month Concert | Wednesday, June 5 at 3:30 p.m. → Northeast Regional Library
- Philly Queer History Walking Tour | Wednesday, June 5 at 6:00 p.m. → Social Science and History Department at Parkway Central Library
- Queer Yoga for All | Saturday, June 8 at 11:00 a.m. → Independence Library
- Pride Printmaking with Mx. Jen | Saturday, June 8 at 1:00 p.m. → Fox Chase Library
- Ants on a Log Pride Month Concert | Monday, June 10 at 4:00 p.m. → Independence Library
- PRIDE Buttonmaking with South Street Art Mart | Monday, June 10 at 4:00 p.m. → Greater Olney Library
- PRIDE Buttonmaking with South Street Art Mart | Tuesday, June 11 at 4:00 p.m. → Eastwick Library
- Make Your Own Pride Zines | Monday, June 17 at 4:00 p.m. → Whitman Library
- Ants on a Log Family Concert | Tuesday, June 18 at 11:00 a.m. → Shakespeare Park in front of Parkway Central Library
- Uncovering Hidden Queers in Old Rare Books | Monday, June 24 at 5:30 p.m. → Independence Library
- Black and Queer in Philadelphia: A Conversation | Wednesday, June 26 at 6:00 p.m. → Newspapers and Microfilm Center at Parkway Central Library
- Ants on a Log Presents: Rainbow Seekers (A Pride Show for Everyone!) | Saturday, July 6 at 3:00 p.m. → Montgomery Auditorium in Parkway Central Library
Be sure to check out our 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.
Would you like to learn more about Barbara Gittings and the Gittings Collection? Pride Month is the perfect time! Located at the Independence Library, the Gittings Collection is the largest LGBTQ+ public library collection east of San Francisco. Gittings 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.
Join us for our Pride Month Reading Challenge, with special book lists curated by Free Library staff!
- Discover an LGBTQ poet and explore their work
- Investigate LGBTQ history and science
- Read a Pride picture book aloud
- Check out one of our staff's favorite imaginative fiction titles
Finally, support the Free Library Foundation and show off your Pride with the Free Library's original Pride design shirts!
Pride, at its core, is about celebrating the LGBTQ+ community. It is an affirmation of living your authentic self. Celebrating Pride is not only for LGBTQ+ people; everyone is encouraged to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community during Pride month and year-round.
Check out the Free Library's Pride event calendar. 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 two business days.