About LILAC
The Lesbian Information, Library and Archives Centre in Wellington is for same-sex attracted women. It has the largest accessible collection of lesbian books and other materials in the country.
Membership involves payment of an annual subscription - then all borrowing is free. Check the Membership page for more information
LILAC is a women-only space, although small children with their mums are okay.
LILAC is an entirely voluntary organisation. Any lesbian member is welcome to join the collective which keeps LILAC running. We welcome support with fund-raising - to pay running costs (esp rent), so that subscriptions can be used to keep the collections growing.
Oh ... and the name - we came up with the name way back in 1993 when we started planning the library. Then someone turned it into an acronym. Mostly LILAC is a library, though we do have archival copies of early New Zealand lesbian magazines.
Herstory
LILAC opened on September 17th 1994 and has been open almost continuously since then ... apart from a period when we lacked premises. Two brief talks given as part of LILAC's 30th anniversary celebrations are available on PrideNZ.com:
- The 10 month process of planning and establishing LILAC (15 September 2024; 6:57)
- The thirty years since LILAC opened (18 October 2024; 8:15)
There is also a brief history of LILAC on the Women Together section of the NZ History website (2019).
An interview from 2010 with two collective members about LILAC is available on PrideNZ.com.
In Memoriam
The In Memoriam page remembers three stalwarts of LILAC and the lesbian community - Porleen Simmonds, Pat Rosier and Alison Laurie.
