A view of the Central Library Building of the Brooklyn Public Library in Grand Army Plaza
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One of the nation’s largest library systems is hosting a new festival dedicated to a select group of readers and writers: Lesbians.
Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) will host its first ever Lesbian Library Day in 125 years of being a public institution. The event will take place on Saturday, August 1 at the Central Library (10 Grand Army Plaza) near Prospect Park.
From 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., the Grand Lobby at the library’s main branch will be filled with community partners tabling and sharing resources in Brooklyn specifically geared to LGBTQ+ adults and teens. Librarians will be on hand for sapphic book recommendations (a part of BPL’s ongoing BookMatch program, which curates reading lists for all ages and interests) and free giveaways are also promised.
Lesbians, allies, bisexuals, trans women, honorary lesbians, and allies are all welcome, according to the official BPL listing. Attendees are encouraged to bring gently used queer books to share and take home a donated title as well.
A schedule of special events including vingo, author talks, and crafts are geared to adults and teens ages 15 and older. Like everything at the library, all the events are free.
Throughout the day, a button making station will offer a selection of pre-cut button templates to customize.
Those eager to game in the morning can head to the Info Commons from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. for Bingo.
At 12 p.m., graphic novelists JD Glass and Kris Dresen will host a zine making workshop. The co-authors will discuss collaborating on their graphic novel Punk Like Me, zine making in the 90s, and teach library patrons how to make their own zines. All necessary supplies will be provided.
Need a break? At 1:15 p.m. – 2:30, a silent reading party will make the most of the library’s free air conditioning (and books, of course). In the grand tradition of summer reading contests, anyone who participates in the silent reading party will be eligible to win a raffle for free books at 2 p.m.
Lesbian Library Day continues with DIY Screenprinting at 2:30 p.m. The art workshop will showcase BPL’s publically accessible screen printing materials and participants can create a commemorative Lesbian Library Day souvenir on their own t-shirts, tote bags, or other fabric surfaces they bring in. Two artistic options will be available to print and take home.
The day concludes in the Dweck Center with Cruising podcast host and author Rachel Karp discussing her new book, The Lesbian Bar Chronicles alongside Nikke Alleyne, co-owner of sapphic bar The Bush in Bushwick. Lofty Pigeon Books, an independent bookstore in Kensington, Brooklyn, will sell copies of the book onsite.
The BPL has no public plans for a Lesbian Library Day after party, but The Bush isn’t far from the Central Library, nor is Ginger’s, Brooklyn’s oldest and longest running lesbian bar.
In July 2025, The New York Public Library (NYPL) hosted a Lesbian Library Day at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) on Fifth Avenue and 40th Street. Now, the branch hosts a monthly Sapphic Saturdays book club, with the next meeting on Saturday, August 22.