The James V. Brown Library, 19 E. Fourth St., will observe June as Pride Month throughout the building.

Pride Month commemorates the Stonewall Riots which took place on June 28, 1969, in response to police raids in the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village New York. The ensuing demonstrations by the LGBTQ community that followed marked the beginning of the LGBTQ movement in the United States.

This month is a celebration and raises awareness of the important impact that the LGBTQ community has had and continues to have across the world. The term Gay Pride was created by Thom Higgins, a gay rights activist from Minnesota, and the first Pride March was coordinated by Brenda Howard, also known as the “Mother of Pride,” who worked to coordinate the first events for Pride Day that later evolved into the month-long celebration that we recognize today.

The Library will have book displays throughout the building, and you can learn more about the history of Pride Month and celebrate the LGBTQ community with the following books about the Stonewall Riots and LGBTQ activism:
– Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights by Ann Bausum.
– Out in Central Pennsylvania: The history of an LGBTQ Community by William Burton.
– The Book of Pride: LGBTQ Heroes Who Changed the World by Mason Funk.
– A Queer History of the United States for Young People by Michael Bronski.
– Queer, There and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sara Prager.
– Queer by Marke Bieschke.

For more information about Pride Month, visit the Library of Congress at https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/about/.

The library supports the PA Forward statewide initiative, which believes that when Pennsylvania residents improve their command of five types of literacy – basic, information, civic and social, health and financial – they can achieve greater success as students, parents, employees, consumers, as citizens. Libraries are community centers of information, technology and learning that will fuel educational and economic opportunity for all of our citizens.

For your safety, all returned materials are quarantined for 24 hours.

The James V. Brown Library is open for browsing and holds pick up from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. To place a hold, visit http://www.jvbrown.edu or call 570-326-0536 during the library’s operating hours. The library also is open for public computer usage and for services such as printing, faxing, copying and scanning. Walk-in passport services are available.

The James V. Brown Library, 19 E. Fourth St., Williamsport, Pa., is the place to go to learn, connect and grow. Founded in June 1907, the library champions the love of reading, opens new doors to lifelong learning, provides a haven to those who seek and ensures the preservation of public library services for future generations. The library has more than 225,000 visitors in a year and circulates a half-million items annually. A member of the Lycoming County Library System, the James V. Brown Library participates in PA Forward, a statewide initiative to promote literacies in our communities to power a better future for everyone.