LGBTQIA Library Services
San Diego Public Library’s LGBTQIA Library Services Committee celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQIA community in a welcoming and inclusive library space that fosters connections to knowledge and each other.
Program
In partnership with the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park, five San Diego Public Library locations will install a pop-up version of the “Community Quilt” interactive from SDHC’s groundbreaking exhibition, LGTBQ+ San Diego: Stories of Struggles and Triumphs. Check out our Community Quilt Project page for related programming.
The five locations hosting these pop-up exhibits are:
November 29, 2018 | 5 - 6 p.m.
Central Library | Mary Hollis Clark Conference Center
Come join us for a book discussion on the book, "Because You'll Never Meet Me" by Leah Thomas. Ollie and Moritz are best friends, but they can never meet. Ollie is allergic to electricity. Contact with it causes debilitating seizures. Moritz’s weak heart is kept pumping by an electronic pacemaker. If they ever did meet, Ollie would seize. But Moritz would die without his pacemaker. Both hermits from society, the boys develop a fierce bond through letters that become a lifeline during dark times—as Ollie loses his only friend, Liz, to the normalcy of high school and Moritz deals with a bully set on destroying him.
A story of impossible friendship and hope under strange circumstances, this debut is powerful, dark and humorous in equal measure. These extraordinary voices bring readers into the hearts and minds of two special boys who, like many teens, are just waiting for their moment to shine. For ages 12-18.
December 20, 2018 | 5 - 6 p.m.
Central Library | Meeting Room 222
Please join us as we discuss Pulp by Robin Talley. In 1955, eighteen-year-old Janet Jones keeps the love she shares with her best friend Marie a secret. It’s not easy being gay in Washington, DC, in the age of McCarthyism, but when she discovers a series of books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in Janet. As she juggles a romance she must keep hidden and a newfound ambition to write and publish her own story, she risks exposing herself—and Marie—to a danger all too real.
Sixty-two years later, Abby Zimet can’t stop thinking about her senior project and its subject—classic 1950s lesbian pulp fiction. Between the pages of her favorite book, the stresses of Abby’s own life are lost to the fictional hopes, desires and tragedies of the characters she’s reading about. She feels especially connected to one author, a woman who wrote under the pseudonym “Marian Love,” and becomes determined to track her down and discover her true identity.
In this novel told in dual narratives, New York Times bestselling author Robin Talley weaves together the lives of two young women connected across generations through the power of words. A stunning story of bravery, love, how far we’ve come and how much farther we have to go. For ages 12-18.
San Diego History Center
Calling All LGBTQ+ Families!
Be part of the San Diego History Center's exhibition titled LGBTQ+ San Diego: Stories of Struggles and Triumphs.
The San Diego History Center is collecting photos for their Families We Make and Choose wall as part of the exhibition, and looking for images that showcase your concept of family–either the one you were born into, or one that you became a part of. Learn more here.
Book Recommendations
- LGBTQIA Biographies
- LGBT History Reads
- LGBT Children's Books
- Young Adults LGBT Reads
- LGBTQIA Reads
- LGBT Romance Novels
- Biography/ Memoir | 2016 Over the Rainbow
- Fiction | 2016 Over the Rainbow
Resources
- The San Diego LGBT Community Center
The Center is the nation's second oldest and one of the largest LGBT community centers that provides direct program services to the many different facets of the LGBT community, including men, women, youth, seniors, families, LGBT Latino community members and their families, and those living with HIV. - San Diego Youth Services
Mental health services and drop-in centers for LGBT youth and their families. - The Trevor Project | 1-866-488-7386
24/7 crisis and support hotline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth ages 13-24. Also offers text and chat services. - GLBT National Help Center
Free and confidential hotlines, chatrooms, and other resources for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning people. - Trans Lifeline | 1-877-565-8860
Hotline that offers support and resources to transgender people in need. Staffed by the transgender community for the transgender community.
Pride Month Library Displays
Visit these local libraries to view their creative Pride Month Displays that showcase LGBTQIA themed books and resources and check out any of their books!