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Free Library of Philadelphia Dedicates Gay
Collection to Lesbian Activist Gittings

The grand opening celebration of the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Independence Branch also marked the dedication of the Barbara Gittings Gay/Lesbian Collection, named after the longtime activist.

The collection consists of 1,500 books, videos, CDs, encompassing mysteries, biographies, and comic books. It is thought to be the nation’s second “dedicated” gay and lesbian collection, following San Francisco Public Library’s James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center.

Gittings, one of the organizers of the American Library Association’s Gay Task Force (now the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table) received a Civil Liberties Achievement in a 1999 ceremony at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Attending the February 28 dedication, Gittings said, “I felt as if the Free Library has brought a little bit of heaven to earth for me.”

Posted March 19, 2001.

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