Happy Pride Month! The Library is celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month with a variety of books and exciting programs for all ages across our 92 locations. Check them out below, and happy #RainbowReading!

#RainbowReading: 30 Books for 30 Days of Pride Month 2017

June is the American Library Association's GLBT Book Month. The New York Public Library's expert librarians are honoring LGBTQ literature with three book lists for Pride Month: 30 books for adults, 30 books for teens, and 30 books for kids.  Each list contains 30 diverse books, one for every day of Pride Month. Find our favorite selections for all age groups, and celebrate this Pride Month with some #RainbowReading.

Pride Events

6/2: First Fridays: LGBT Pride Edition: Kick off Pride month at the Schomburg Center with this party in celebration of LGBT Pride. In addition to drinks and dancing, there will be a special pop-up exhibit from the Schomburg's collections on LGBT activist Storme DeLarverie, a drag performance by Harmonica Sunbeam, and more. 6 PM, Schomburg Center.

6/2: Undercover Girl: The Lesbian Informant Who Helped the FBI Bring Down the Communist Party: At the height of the red scare, Greenwich Village photographer Angela Calomiris was a paid FBI informant inside the American Communist Party, going undercover to bring down eleven party leaders who were conspiring to overthrow the government. Now, using never-before-published materials from Calomiris' personal archives, Lisa E. Davis tells the story of the life of this fascinating spy. 7 PM, Jefferson Market Library.

6/8: Transgender 101:This workshop, presented by Working with Transgender Communities, aims to combat discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming persons through discussion of issues and challenges faced by those communities. 4 PM, 67th Street Library.

6/10: LGBT Philosophy Forum: This monthly meeting is for the LGBT community and its friends to gather and informally discuss important works of philosophy. 2:45 PM, Muhlenberg Library.

6/12: Jacqueline Jonee Presents: A Date with Liberace: Jacqueline Jonee, the world's premier concert drag diva pianist, presents an up-close and personal screening of her 2009 video biography of Liberace. 2:30 PM, Library for the Performing Arts.

6/13: Shall We Wed: Financial Planning for Same-Sex Households: Financial planner Thomas Chu of PridePlanners – a national network of advisors specializing in serving the LGBT community – comes to the Library to discuss the financial and legal ramifications of marriage for same-sex couples. 6 PM, Science, Industry and Business Library.

6/15: Build a Better World: Button Pride: In honor of Pride Month, celebrate your own uniqueness and the uniqueness of others by making custom Pride-themed buttons. 4:30 PM, Mid-Manhattan Library. Ages 13 to 18 years.

6/15: Stories of Resilience from the Front Lines: Listen to this discussion with a panel of trans movement organizers talk about trans history in New York in the 1980s and 1990s. Featuring Kiara St. James, Tanya Asapansa Johnson Walker, and Nicole Bowles. 6 PM, Tompkins Square Library.

6/16: Anti-Prom: Gods & Goddesses: Anti-Prom is a safe, alternative prom that welcomes all teens, regardless of sexuality, gender identity, the way you dress, or any other reason. Dance the night away at the Library and check out the Gods & Goddesses-inspired fashions created by NYPL's teen designers. 6:30 PM, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. Only teens ages 12 to 18 will be admitted.

6/17: Film Screening: Colonel Jin Xing: A Unique Destiny: Jin Xing is a ballerina, modern dancer, choreographer, and actress from the People's Republic of China, and the head of the contemporary dance company Shanghai Jin Xing Dance Theatre. She is one of the first of a few transgender women officially recognized by the Chinese government. After a screening of this documentary about her life, Pauline Park will give a talk on Jin Xing's life. 2 PM, Chatham Square Library.

6/19: Film Screening: Kinky Boots: Come to this free screening of the 2005 comedy Kinky Boots – which inspired the hit Broadway musical of the same name – about the owner of a struggling shoe factory who partners with a drag queen to save his family business. 6 PM, Library for the Performing Arts. 

6/22: Summer Film Series: Pariah: As part of Inwood Library's multicultural film series, the library will screen Pariah (2011), which tells the story of a black Brooklyn teenager who embraces her lesbian identity, but struggles with how much she can confide in her parents. 7 PM, Inwood Library.

6/22: She He Me: Voyage Theater Company Reading Series: Attend this reading of She He Me, a documentary play based on interviews with transgender people in the Arab world. 7 PM, 53rd Street Library.

6/23: The Library After Hours: The city's most cerebral happy hour is back, and this time we're celebrating LGBT Pride. Come to the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building for an evening of refreshments, activities, and fun. Priority Access may enter at 7 PM; first come first served begins at 7:30 PM. Must be 21+ years of age to attend.

6/27: Surpassing Certainty: Janet Mock in Conversation with Lisa Lucas: Janet Mock, the writer, TV host, and advocate, discusses her new memoir, Surpassing Certainty, with Lisa Lucas, Executive Director of the National Book Foundation. 7 PM, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.

Facebook Live Conversations

Throughout Pride Month, the Library will be hosting a weekly Facebook Live series featuring live reading recommendations, Drag Queen Story Time, a behind-the-scenes preview of local teen fashion designers' work for Anti-Prom, a curator sharing items from LGBT history in NYPL's collections, and more. Anyone with a Facebook account can 'Like' The New York Public Library on Facebook to be notified when live broadcasts begin.

More Resources

If you want to read, learn, and discover more, please browse our selection of LGBTQ books or our Digital Collections. And if you're interested in researching this topic, the Library has over 100 collections related to gay and lesbian history in our Manuscripts and Archives Division. Plus, you can check out what other libraries across the country are doing as part of the ALA's GLBT Book Month initiative. Come join us in celebrating LGBT Pride!