Gerber/Hart Library and Archives explained

The Gerber/Hart Library and Archives (or "The Henry Gerber–Pearl 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 Rodgers 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]

Further reading

• Web site: A Brief History of Gerber/Hart Library. Michael McCaslin. ILLINOIS PERIODICALS ONLINE.
• News: Gerber/Hart: The library that rescues Chicago's gay history. Chicago Sun-Times. 2006-01-08. Leslie Baldacci.
• Web site: Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame. Gerber/Hart Library and Archives. 1996. 2006-08-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20070927190607/http://www.glhalloffame.org/index.pl?item=85&todo=view_item. 2007-09-27. dead.
• News: SIMONETTE. MATT. 2014-06-25 . Gerber/Hart updates public on progress, gift. Windy City Times . 2016-06-18.
• News: Gerber-Hart will reopen in Rogers Park. Chicago Tribune. 2014-08-08. 2016-06-18.

External links

• Official Gerber/Hart Library web site

Notes and References

1. News: The Illinois Department of Human Rights commemorates LGBT Pride Month . 2006-06-19 . Illinois Department of Human Rights . 2006-08-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071203140629/http://www.state.il.us/dhr/news_rel/GLBT_06.doc . 2007-12-03 .
2. Web site: Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame . glhalloffame.org . 28 October 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20151017032241/http://www.glhalloffame.org/index.pl?page=inductees&todo=year . 17 October 2015 .
3. Web site: Enrolled Act SB630 . State of Illinois 91st General Assembly Legislation . 2006-08-09 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070930030859/http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/legisnet91/sbgroups/sb/910SB0630LV.html . 2007-09-30 .
4. Web site: Center on Halsted History . Nov 5, 2024 . Center on Halsted.
5. Web site: A Brief History of Gerber/Hart Library . 2024-11-05 . www.lib.niu.edu.
6. Web site: Tribune . Hannah Edgar Chicago . 2022-03-30 . At 40, Gerber/Hart, the Midwest’s independent LGBTQ library and archive, is on the move — again . 2024-11-05 . Chicago Tribune . en-US.
7. Web site: Tribune . Chicago . 2012-04-26 . Historians up in arms about archives future . 2024-11-05 . Chicago Tribune . en-US.
8. Web site: Hours and Location . 2024-11-05 . gerberhart.
9. Web site: Exhibits . 2024-11-05 . gerberhart.