Results from our Community Survey
Last year, the Lavender Library conducted its first community survey in five years to ensure the Library can continue to meet the needs of our LGBTQ+ community members. As the current President, I want to thank everyone who completed the survey for sharing your hearts, your time, and your deep care for this queer "third space." We reviewed every single comment, and what we heard was a powerful response of love for this community space, intertwined with genuine calls for us to live up to our highest ideals of inclusion, safety, and care.
Since reopening in 2023 after the pandemic's peak, this all-volunteer community space has made drastic improvements. We've beautified our space with our "Glow Up" and added recurring events like Game Day, Banned Book Club, and an ACE/ARO group. Operating entirely on the backs of individual volunteers for over 25 years, including everyone in departments like Events and Collections, our browsing hours and continued existence depend on their dedication. With an operating budget under $35,000, we exist because a few committed community members, many of whom have volunteered at the circulation desk for over a year, give so much. Simply stated, this library exists because of you and for you.
Your feedback isn’t just a list of suggestions—it’s a blueprint that shows the Board of Directors and Volunteers where we’ve fallen short of our promises and where we must grow. Feedback is a gift and we truly believe that. Transparently, we wanted to share what the survey unveiled and the Library and Board’s commitment to actionable next steps. We deeply desire to meet the needs of the community and balance the sustainability of an all-volunteer run community space.
What the Survey Unveiled
We heard profound gratitude for this rare, sober “third space” where queer joy and connection can flourish. We also heard the pain and frustration when that safety feels compromised. Several core themes emerged, loud and clear:
A Need for Clarity and Consistency: We heard that our communication can be spotty, our hours feel restrictive, and our processes can be confusing. This lack of clarity creates barriers to the very connection we aim to build and foster.
A Call for True Belonging: We heard from trans women, folks AMAB, QTBIPOC, Black, and Latinx community members seeking more culturally specific events. We heard from families, youth, and seniors wanting to see themselves reflected in Library programs. The call is for more than representation; it’s for active, intentional belonging, woven into our community outreach, programming, and events.
A Demand for Tangible Accessibility: You asked for ASL interpretation, sensory-friendly hours, Braille materials, and better physical access. We hear this need clearly and acknowledge a fundamental challenge we currently face. The Lavender Library currently operates in a rented space that we do not own. While this limits our ability to make major structural changes, we are committed to doing what we can within our power in our current home.
A Desire for Collective Care: For many of our immunocompromised, disabled, and chronically ill members, the masking policy isn't a preference—it's a lifeline. We heard that our shifted mask policy was experienced as a profound misstep of our stated values, directly impacting your ability to participate. We are sorry.
Our Path Forward
Your survey responses will directly inform a new Strategic Plan, which will prioritize how we move forward on your feedback. This plan will guide our actions and allow for accountability. We hope to position the Library in a space that we can call our future home within the next decade. We cannot fix everything overnight, but we commit to moving with urgency and transparency, as an all-volunteer board and staff allows.
Prioritizing Inclusive Programming. This year, we have a new events director whose top programming commitment is supporting more diverse events by and for QTBIPOC, Black, and Latinx community members. You’ll see a range of programming available to families, children, and folks who felt left out by our older programming. We hope to add a regular community support group for trans women or AMAB. If you or someone you know wants to lead this specific support group, please reach out to us.
The Library has established a dedicated Harm Reduction Committee that reviews, updates, and promotes our Harm Reduction policies, including our community agreements, and how we interact with the larger community. We’re creating a “Harm Reduction & Community Care” section on our website to clearly state our community agreements, outline our masking policies, explain our volunteer-run model, and list other important resources. Our goal is transparency, so you know exactly what to expect.
Additionally, due to the limitations that exist in our rented space, we are identifying events and programming where a hybrid model could be possible, and exploring sensory-friendly hours. Our commitment to keeping our mask-only hours and allowing community groups that meet in the Library to manage their own masking policies remains. Most of the Library’s recurring events have a “masking strongly encouraged” model, and the Queer Crafternoon and Game Day continue to require masks for event attendees.
We will continue to offer a variety of masks (KN95, children’s, and medical grade) and other harm reduction items like Narcan and condoms, which are freely available to anyone who walks through our doors.
To build a foundation for the Library’s Future, we are developing a formal rental framework to better support community groups and ensure safer, more sustainable events. We’ll ensure that attendees know who is a representative from the library and who they can turn to if questions or concerns arise. We are planning keyholder and volunteer training in the Spring to ensure everyone representing the library is equipped to welcome you. As stated above, the strategic planning process will explicitly work towards the internal goal to purchase a building within 5–10 years to finally build a space that meets our collective physical and accessibility needs.
What You Can Expect From Us
We commit to being a library that leads with empathy. We commit to making decisions through the lens of those most vulnerable in our community.
We commit to communicating openly. We will use our website and newsletters to share updates, admit shortcomings, and celebrate progress.
We commit to following a Strategic Plan: The actions above are the first steps in a formal plan to address your feedback. We will report back on our progress.
This is your library. Holding us accountable is an act of love, and we thank you for it. Please continue to share your thoughts with our board at admin@lavenderlibrary.com.
With profound gratitude for your trust and partnership,
Lenix
President, Board of Directors
The Lavender Library, Archives, and Cultural Exchange (LLACE)
