This Pride season, Out on the Shelves (OOTS) Library is feeling especially proud. Vancouver’s oldest LGBT2QIA+ library has two exciting announcements to share: we are now a registered society, and will be relocating to Granville Island in September 2024!
Established on Davie Street in 1983 (over 40 years ago!), the volunteer-run community library has continuously served Vancouver since then. OOTS is committed to fostering a free, accessible, and safe space for LGBT2QIA+ people and their allies to discover and share stories and resources, and celebrate the narratives that shape and define our diverse, intersectional community. Changing locations many times along the way, OOTS has been located at the UBC Point Grey campus for the last eight years, allowing us to continue operations while searching for a more central location
Starting in September, the library will be located at 1555 Duranleau Street on Granville Island. This is possible through the generosity of Malaspina Printmakers Society, with whom OOTS has signed an MOU to utilise a portion of their building. The new location will be double our current size, and return us closer to where it all began. This means we’ll have space for even more LGBT2QIA+ literature, movies, zines, and games, and also be able to function as a central meeting place for Vancouver’s queer community. Beyond our popular weekly tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) series Gaming with Out on the Shelves (GWOOTS), we look forward to hosting community events, performances, and exhibits.
Throughout its evolution, Out on the Shelves Library has welcomed everyone seeking a space to celebrate LGBT2QIA+ experiences and histories. As we prepare for this major transition, we want to build and renew our relationships with other queer-serving institutions, organisations, and initiatives to better serve the community.
We invite you to join us as the library begins this new chapter. If your organisation is interested in partnering with OOTS to explore new ways to serve and empower the local queer community, please reach out to us at outontheshelveslibrary@gmail.com.
