The Many Colours of LGBTQ+ Pride

Summary: Every day in February, for LGBTQ+ History Month, on social media we shared some of the flags that represent the different identities in the LGBTQ+ community. Here, we collect them together, as well as speak with artist Guillaume Vandame about his installation, symbol, that celebrates their power.

5 min read

From the Collections: Society of Public Librarians Archive

Summary: Interpretation Manager, Michelle discusses the Society of Public Librarians archive here.

Dragging the Archive: Preserve drag king history

Summary: We opened the doors of our library to welcome the drag king community of London. Dragging the Archive blended panel discussions with drag performances, socialising with zine and badge making.

6 min read

From the Collections: Derek Brook

Summary: Campaigns Manager Jeroen discusses the Derek Brook photographic archive here.

4 min read

Long read: Three new kink collections by female artists

Summary: Within a short space of time, we recently received three new collections by female kink artists.

4 min read

Video: Watch and be inspired by our summer Lunchtime Concerts

Summary: This summer, our Great Hall was filled with music, performed by musicians who took inspiration from our collections.

Gallery: London in summer

Summary: We dived into our archives to explore how Londoners through the last century have enjoyed themselves in the summer.

Lives from the Archives: Holly Revell

Gallery: Vince Ray's illustrations for Club RUB

Summary: Last year we were excited to catch up with Club RUB founder, dominatrix Miss Kim. And, as London begins to open up, we thought it was the perfect time to delve into the flyers for the Club, and look at the illustrations Vince Ray designed.

Gallery: A-Z of LGBTQ+ London

Summary: We've been celebrating this year's Pride Month with an A-Z tour of LGBTQ+ London on our social media.

Article: The lost art of letter writing

Summary: Every minute, 187 million emails, 18 million texts, and 38 million WhatsApp messages are sent. But before we all lived our lives online, the way to stay in touch was through letter writing.

5 min read

Gallery: The LGBTQ+ community and Section 28

Summary: Today marks the anniversary of the Section 28 legislation being introduced, which banned the "promotion of homosexuality" by local authorities in 1988. This meant schools and councils were unable to provide young LGBTQ+ people with help.