Philly AIDS Thrift at Giovanni's Room: A historical LGBT bookstore

Located on the corner of 12th and Pine Street in Philadelphia's Gayborhood, Philly AIDS Thrift at Giovanni's Room, also known as PAT @ Giovanni's Room, is a landmark gay bookstore. Founded in 1973, it was named after James Baldwin's novel Giovanni's Room. The current location features a main building constructed in 1820 and a second building added in the 1880s.

In its early years, the store held approximately 100 titles from authors such as James Baldwin, Gertrude Stein, and Willa Cather. By a few years later, the collection grew to over 15,000 titles covering gay men and women, as well as feminist, transgender, and bisexual topics. The store moved to its current location in 1979. In 2014, the non-profit Philly AIDS Thrift took ownership of the store, expanding the collection to include music, artwork, comics, and clothing.

The store's history includes ownership by lesbian activist and artist Pat Hill in 1975, who expanded the selection of lesbian and feminist works recommended by the community. In 2011, a historical marker was unveiled to commemorate the location as the country's first LGBT bookstore still operating. Today, the store maintains a database of 48,000 works sold internationally while keeping 7,000 titles on its shelves.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons