The Gerber/Hart Library in Edgewater has served the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community for nearly 30 years. With over 20,000 volumes and nearly 1,000 periodicals, it is the Midwest’s largest LGBT circulating library. The privately-funded, all-volunteer repository acts as a living record of the LGBT community. “The history of the gay and lesbian community has been overlooked, edited and erased,” said programming director Owen Keehnen, who is also one of three Board members. “It’s our job to keep a record of the past.” The job for its 25 volunteers includes research assistance for everyone ranging from local junior high students to, recently, BBC London. The space is a social hub as well, according to Keehnen. It takes up two storefronts, with a large reading space that doubles as its performance area up front, then an office/check out area separating the stacks in back. The multipurpose room currently hosts an exhibit on the 1987 LGBT march on Washington DC. In addition to the ongoing monthly sales, Gerber/Hart has three big book sales per year organized into 50 categories.

Visit: Gerber/Hart Library, 1127 W. Granville Ave., 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, noon to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday, or go to gerberhart.org.

Robert Duffer is a freelance writer in Chicago. Find him at robertduffer.com.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/books/chi-books-gerber-hart-library,0,5653814.story
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