The San Diego Public Library is showing its pride this week with storytimes, a limited-edition library card, and family fun at this year’s Pride festival. Photo courtesy SDPL.
The San Diego Public Library is showing its pride this week with storytimes, a limited-edition library card, and family fun at this year’s Pride festival. SDPL has several events planned to celebrate San Diego Pride and the history and contributions of San Diego’s LGBTQIA+ community.
“The San Diego Public Library is committed to being an inclusive space and is proud to support San Diego’s LGBTQIA+ community,” said Library Director Misty Jones. ”We have a beautiful Pride library card this year that recognizes the history of the fight for equal rights. Our staff has also planned several events for all ages to celebrate diversity and individuality.”
As part of this year’s celebration, SDPL will host a family-friendly Pride-themed storytime and dance party. Focused on messages of inclusion, the event will be held at the Oak Park Library on Thursday, July 17, at 10:30 a.m.
SDPL will also offer a limited-edition Pride library card. More than 100 designs were submitted for the library’s annual card design contest. The winning design was created by Crawford High School student Leslie Pagel. It features an illustration of Marsha P. Johnson in front of New York’s Stonewall Inn. Johnson was a gay and trans rights activist and one of the prominent figures in the Stonewall uprising of 1969.
“I wanted to honor her and the work she did for the community,” Pagel said. “She was alive during a time when trans people were heavily misunderstood, yet they were the ones to carry much of the community’s fight towards liberation.”
Patrons can pick up the Pride library card at any library location starting Friday, July 15, while supplies last. The card will also be available at the SDPL Lit Café at the San Diego Pride Festival at Balboa Park on July 16 and 17. The Lit Café will also host book talks by local authors, storytimes, craft activities, face painting, and a book sale.
Visit the SDPL Pride page for more information on the library’s Pride celebration, book recommendations, and LGBTQIA+ resources.