The oldest 2SLGBTQ+ bookshop in not only Toronto but also in the world is moving.
Glad Day Bookshop, currently located in the city’s Gay Village at 499 Church St., is relocating to Toronto’s Queen West neighbourhood.
Last year after facing “immediate eviction,” Glad Day turned to the community to help find a “creative way” to give them one more year at their Church-Wellesley neighbourhood dwelling — surrounded by many of the queer hot spots in the city, including Crews and Tangos, The Drink, Woody’s and Storm Crow Manor.
After raising nearly $200,000 from more than 2,400 donors, not only did it stay afloat while at risk of eviction, but it also found a new “short-term” home.
“Glad Day Lit has secured a new low-cost space to continue the essential community programming and non-profit work we do, with the help of the City of Toronto,” the non-profit side of the bookshop recently announced.
“While this is not a long-term solution for Glad Day, it is a stable ‘home base’ while we continue working with the City of Toronto to find a sustainable ‘forever home,’” Glad Day Lit added.
Their new spot will be situated at 32 Lisgar St., between Gladstone Avenue and Ossington Avenue, and will include a small bookstore, café counter, communal lounge and an area for events.
The new location will be run entirely as a non-profit and its Church Street spot is expected to stay open until at least the end of June, according to Glad Day. This means Pride month in The Village will include the shop this year.
“Although we recognize the importance and legacy of Glad Day in the village, we are thrilled to have you in our neighbourhood,” the Queen West BIA says of the move.
But as uncertainty still faces the bookshop while it continues the hunt for a long-term space, it is once again asking for support.
“We will need furniture, bookshelves, books and merchandise. While our facility costs will be very low in this new model, our revenue may also be low. We are not sure what the revenue from sober drinks, books, merch and ticket sales will look like,” Glad Day says. “That’s why we need your help to outfit the space, provide an initial fund for operating costs, and to keep paying authors for events.”
The goal is to raise $150,000 to keep the shop alive during its upcoming period of change. Glad Day hopes to use funds to pay authors, performers and artists, revitalize its book and art selection and to subsidize six months of operating costs in the new space, among other targets.
Although the shop isn’t “entirely sure” how long the new spot on Lisgar Street will last, Glad Day assumes they will be in the space for at least a year.
“The city has told us we will be given lots of notice before we need to move. We also may have the option to stay for a longer term,” Glad Day says. “We will have a better idea of these variables in a few months.”
But whatever happens, the bookstore is working closely with City of Toronto Staff and local Councillor Chris Moise “on a strategy to bring Glad Day back to the Church Street area as a non-profit that is resilient and will survive these times of intense financial and political challenges,” the shop says.
The store has been nestled in The Village for nearly a decade since its move from 598A Yonge St. in 2016.
“I am disappointed that Glad Day Bookshop is being forced to move out of their space in the heart of the Church-Wellesley Village but am excited for their next chapter,” Moise says.
“Our community, along with our allies, stepped up financially to keep Glad Day alive and serving our community as far more than just a bookshop. I have been working behind the scenes with city staff and a group of community leaders to secure a new community space in The Village and look forward to welcoming Glad Day back shortly,” he added.
Since 2015, Glad Day Lit has paid almost $120,000 directly to 2SLGBTQ+ authors for being part of panels, readings, workshops, performances and special events.
Aside from selling books, the shop is also known for hosting the longest running drag brunch in Canada that takes place every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It also hosts trivia nights, viewing parties and book clubs.
Glad Day Bookshop was established in 1970 by Jearld Moldenhauer. Its first Toronto location was at 65 Kendal Ave. The store was created after Moldenhauer had no luck while searching for queer literature in the city — so he decided to create his own book service.
“All the Gay titles were theoretically available to booksellers. Yet all I could find were the same dreadful anti-gay psychiatric tracts that littered the shelves in the pre-Stonewall days,” Moldenhauer says.
But now the shelves of the shop are packed with “the widest possible selection” of queer books offered to the community, according to Glad Day.
Donations to help keep the Glad Day Bookshop alive can be made at its website.
“We need your continued support to make this next chapter of Glad Day a success,” the bookshop says.
