The Lavender Library is All Glow’d Up!
We remain committed to celebrating the beauty and magic of our queer and trans community.
The Lavender Library’s board president, Erin Mahoney (they/them), is the writer of our inaugural blog post:
On behalf of the Lavender Library’s board of directors, I'm so happy and proud to welcome you to the Lavender Library this Pride Month! If you’ve been a patron or fan (or both!) of the library for a while, you’ll notice that a lot has changed about the Library over the past few years — our space is all glow’d up (remodeled), we have a new website, and you’re likely seeing some new faces. I’m excited to share our story of how Sacramento’s little queer library adapted and Glow’d Up over the past three years.
The onset of the pandemic was challenging for many of us and our mission of creating safe spaces for our local LGBTQ+ community. Our old ventilation and small footprint made it difficult and dangerous to keep operating as usual. Our patrons' and volunteers' health and safety remain our top priority; ultimately, we had to close our doors. But still, our rad group of dedicated volunteers found a way to grow, adapt, and build community amid the challenging times.
In the early days of the pandemic, we pivoted to offering curbside pickup for our patrons, doing most of our organizing on Slack's digital platform, and creating committees so volunteers could continue to be engaged and productive virtually.
We also took this closure as an opportunity to update the Lavender Library in an ongoing project called our Glow Up. LLACE volunteers and other community members came together to pull out our nasty old carpet, clean every nook and cranny of the library, and completely reimagine the space. We boxed up all of our 20K+ materials, disassembled all our shelving, and put everything — yes, everything — in a storage pod so we could get to work. We painted walls and ceilings for the first time in decades, updated our furniture, and even added some fun murals. The Lavender Library is actually lavender now, and it looks so good. If you haven’t visited the Glowd Up space, we hope you can stop by soon!
We also got a new logo and branding kit thanks to the generosity, skill and collaborative efforts of Uptown Studios (thank you!), which led to new signage on our front window and door as well as updated merch, with more to come.
For the first time in the library’s history, we earmarked a monthly budget to add a diverse set of materials to our collection, so our collection can grow in ways that better reflect everyone in our community. We are proud to now prioritize work by queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and other people of color as we add new books to our collection.
We’ve done more than I can mention here as part of our Glow Up and continue improving the space so all queer Sacramentans can feel safe, welcomed, and access the queer stories we keep on our shelves. We continue to work diligently to further the mission, vision, and values that make the Lavender Library a hub of LGBTQ+ culture, community, and advocacy in Sacramento.
None of this would be possible without the support of our community. As an independent, completely volunteer-run-and-operated non-profit, we exist because of people power. This includes our incredible volunteers who spend their valuable time keeping our doors open, our members whose continued patronage inspires us daily, and the many kind folks who donate money to fund our efforts. And let’s be honest — as our rights come under attack; these efforts are more important than ever
So again, I’m happy and proud to welcome you to the Glow’d Up Lavender Library and invite you to join us at LLACE, where we celebrate the beauty and magic of our queer and trans community and honor all those who have engaged in the struggle that makes this space possible.
In community,
Erin Mahoney
LLACE Board President
Like everything else at LLACE, this is the product of countless hours of work by volunteers passionate about what a space like LLACE offers the community. Special shout out to our dedicated volunteers, patrons, and board of directors for supporting the Lavender Library.
