The Gerber/Hart Library and Archives (or "The Henry GerberPearl M. Hart Library: The Midwest Lesbian & Gay Resource Center"), founded in 1981, is the largest circulating library of gay and lesbian titles in the Midwestern United States.[1] Located in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, it houses over 14,000 volumes, 800 periodical titles, and 100 items in the archival collection. The Gerber/Hart Library and Archives were inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 1996.[2]

Although a private non-profit, the library has received public funding for its continuing operation from Illinois' "Fund for the Future," including a $25,000 grant in 1999.[3]

Location

Gerber/Hart was originally located in the offices of Gay Horizons (now known as the Center on Halsted[4]).[5] In 2012, the library moved into its current location in Rogers Park, a neighborhood in northern Chicago, IL.[6][7] It is housed in the Howard Brown Health building on Clark Street,[8] where the organization rents several rooms on the second floor.

Alongside a reading room and free circulating library, Gerber/Hart also has a physical exhibition space, which rotates throughout the year.[9]

References

  1. ^ "The Illinois Department of Human Rights commemorates LGBT Pride Month". Illinois Department of Human Rights. June 19, 2006. Archived from the original on December 3, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2006.
  2. ^ "Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame". glhalloffame.org. Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  3. ^ "Enrolled Act SB630". State of Illinois 91st General Assembly Legislation. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2006.
  4. ^ "Center on Halsted History". Center on Halsted. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  5. ^ "A Brief History of Gerber/Hart Library". www.lib.niu.edu. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  6. ^ Tribune, Hannah Edgar | Chicago (March 30, 2022). "At 40, Gerber/Hart, the Midwest's independent LGBTQ library and archive, is on the move — again". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  7. ^ Tribune, Chicago (April 26, 2012). "Historians up in arms about archives future". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  8. ^ "Hours and Location". gerberhart. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  9. ^ "Exhibits". gerberhart. Retrieved November 5, 2024.

Further reading

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