Shoulders to Stand On

Gerry Szymanski, GAGV Library and Archives

by Susan Jordan

Gerry Szymanski is a professional librarian who works at the Sibley Library of the Eastman School.He is also a photographer, filmmaker, animator, classical music DJ and much more. However, it was for his years of dedicated volunteer work with the Library and Archives that the Gay Alliance honored Gerry at the volunteer appreciation party on Sept. 27.

The Library, located next to the GAGV Youth Center, currently has 5,000 titles, 300 videos and over 1,000 periodicals, including very early and rare magazines like “One” and “The Ladder.” The Archive, housed in a basement storage room, was recently re-organized by volunteers, and is connected to the Shoulders to Stand On history project. Computers with Internet access are available during library hours as part of the David Bohnett Cyber Center. For hours, see end of article.

Remodeled GAGV Library Hosts New CyberCenter

By Ove Overmyer
from the October 2009 Empty Closet

Gerry Szymanski, coordinator of the GAGV Library & Archives

The GAGV Library and Archives project re-invented itself back in 2004 and has been evolving ever since.

For the past five years, the Library and Archives has been located on the fifth floor in the GAGV administrative offices at the Auditorium Center, 875 East Main St. in downtown Rochester and was open on Wednesday evenings. It is now located in a room next to the GAGV Youth Center on the first floor. It houses thousands of books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, newspapers, periodicals and archival materials (including back issues of The Empty Closet) that pertain to the local LGBT community.