Entering its third school year, Queerly Quilled has expanded beyond its original literary roots to be a growing community for queer youth. Kicking off its 24/25 season on Sept. 11 at the Lynn Valley branch of NVDPL, the founders hope to see new faces join.
Build it and they will come
(courtesy Queerly Quilled)
Argyle Secondary grade 11 students London Clark and Aria Iliakis have always felt welcome at the library. It was a place to spend time, hang out and connect with others that wasn’t home or school. Both cared enough to want to give back by volunteering for the NVDPL’s Teen Advisory Group. The supportive and open space inspired the pair to kickstart the first youth-led program at the NVDPL. In that time between now and then it has evolved from the initial book club to an inclusive youth activity club – that sometimes involves books.
“It’s a really good community for queer teens,” said Clark. “It’s a chance to meet people from other schools.”
The founders hope to offer connection, understanding and community to youth who might not experience that in all aspects of their lives.
“A challenge a lot of teens have is that a lot of my friends are straight,” said Iliakis. “They are great but they don’t understand what its like to be queer –”
“They don’t get ‘it’,” adds Clark.
The humble roots of Queerly Quilled (follow them on Instagram for club info) focused on queer books with a handful of people coming to the first meetings. Over the last 18 months momentum has grown and the group has had its own metamorphosis into a fun community that allows teens to be teens without the restraints of their school or home lives.
“Sometimes teens don’t have parents who are accepting or they don’t feel comfortable being trans at school. Here they can be who they are,” said Iliakis. “We have some homeschooled kids who don’t have as many opportunities to meet other queer teens.”
Everyone has a first day
The founders credit the empowering staff at the NVDPL to support and help them hone in on their vision and help them expand the club beyond its original book club vision.
“Jessie [Hawkes, former teen engagement librarian] was amazing to help us get on our feet,” said Clark of the NVDPL staffer who helped get the ball rolling. “Sarah [Oremland] has been so supportive and helpful.”
The program was born out of the ongoing youth consultation from the Library’s Teen Advisory Group.
“We want to both support and empower teens in our community, so to have teen-created and teen-run library program like Queerly Quilled is the epitome of our service philosophy,” said Sarah Oremland, youth engagement librarian. “Youth-led programs like Queerly Quilled give teens the chance to shape their community and take ownership of their experiences at the library.”
From ideas to space and snacks, the founders say the Lynn Valley staff are excellent mentors to keep them on track.
“We’re always open to supporting teens in running programs they devise, so we encourage them to bring their ideas to the table and let us know what programs they might be interested in creating and running. Our teen leaders for Queerly Quilled have demonstrated impressive leadership skills,” Oremland. “Our youth department has something in the works for a program that would be partially youth-led, hopefully for next year.”
New members of Queerly Quilled will experience a welcoming space, games and opportunity to connect with others. They have cleverly incentivized participation to encourage participants to speak up and get involved.
“I want to meet new people and I remember not knowing anyone but London,” said Iilakis acknowledging it’s brave to try a new thing. “We have a lot of ice breakers and by focusing on activities we have a chance to get to know other people.”
“No one is shy once a game of Uno gets going,” said Clark. “We created opportunities for people to win these gold beads – we call them doubloons – and when we have advance reading copies of books we hold auctions with the winnings.”
Meetings days bring an abundance of energy to the library, says Oremland.
“Queerly Quilled is our most exuberant group, and the feeling of joy, inclusion, and belonging is palpable during every meeting of queer youth and queer allies,” she said. “Our library believes in being a welcoming and inclusive space for everyone in our community, and this is also a core tenet of our philosophy for teen services. Public libraries are one of the few public spaces that are actively welcoming to teens, so we want to show that they are welcomed and respected, through our programming like Queerly Quilled, and also in the materials we offer and the spaces we create for them.”
When the doors open on Sept. 11 at 4 pm Clark and Iliakis are hoping to see a bunch of new faces.
“Come meet new people, have fun and join a community of people like you, your own age,” said Clark.
Looking for more?
There’s always something fun and exciting happening in Lynn Valley. Check out our Community Events Calendar or learn more about Local Activities, Mountain Biking or Hiking and Walking Trails.
