LGBT+ History Month

We welcome staff, students and members of the local community to the library on
Thursday 23rd June between 1-6pm. 

Over refreshments, why not come and browse our display of books, curated especially to celebrate Pride 2022. We'll also be showcasing our new online leisure reading collection, OverDrive and it's accompanying app Libby, on which we also have a dedicated Pride collection.

We have a limited number of books to give away - details of which will be published soon!

We will be promoting our new Community Library Membership, which is free of charge for members of the public, providing the ability to loan print items.

We've reached out to various LGBT+ organisations and groups in the area and hope to be joined by employees and members so that we can highlight the ways in which they can make use of the library and our fabulous resources. This invite is extended to anyone who is interested, as our library is for everyone!

We would love people to post a message on our Pride Wall of Appreciation in the library foyer.  

It could be a message to say thank you, or one to show love or support to someone special - it's up to you!

The Wall of Appreciation will be in the library foyer until Friday 24th June. 

To celebrate Pride this June, the Library are giving away copies of three titles, selected from a short-list by members of our University Community. Copies have been purchased directly from QueerLit, Manchester's award-winning, independent gay bookshop 

You can collect a copy of your chosen book at our open afternoon on Thursday 23rd June between 1-6pm. All we ask is that you read your chosen title and let us know what you think. We'd love you to post your thoughts (anonymously if you choose) on our Padlet.

Choose from:

All The Young Men by Ruth Coker Burks

In 1986, 26-year-old Ruth Coker Burks visits a friend in hospital when she notices that the door to one of the patient's rooms is painted red. The nurses are reluctant to enter, drawing straws to decide who will tend to the sick person inside. Out of impulse, Ruth herself enters the quarantined space and begins to care for the young man who cries for his mother in the last moments of his life. And in doing so, Ruth's own life changes forever.

Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters

Reese nearly had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York, a job she didn't hate. She'd scraped together a life previous generations of trans women could only dream of; the only thing missing was a child. Then everything fell apart and three years on Reese is still in self-destruct mode, avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men. When her ex calls to ask if she wants to be a mother, Reese finds herself intrigued. After being attacked in the street, Amy de-transitioned to become Ames, changed jobs and, thinking he was infertile, started an affair with his boss Katrina. Now Katrina's pregnant.

Could the three of them form an unconventional family - and raise the baby together?

We also have this title available in our online leisure reading collection, Overdrive. 

Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon 

Pocket Change Collective is a series of small books with big ideas from today's leading activists and artists. In this installment, Beyond the Gender Binary, Alok Vaid-Menon challenges the world to see gender not in black and white, but in full color. Taking from their own experiences as a gender-nonconforming artist, they show us that gender is a malleable and creative form of expression. The only limit is your imagination.

We also have this title available in our online leisure reading collection, Overdrive. 

Check out the events organised by the LU LGBTQ+ Forum to celebrate Pride this June. 

Give them a follow on social media to find out more.