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The adorable Aesop Queer Library is back for Pride!

Free books included.

Written by
Mark Peikert
Aesop's Queer Library in Manhattan
Photograph: Michael George | Aesop's Queer Library in Manhattan
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Forget leaving an Aesop store with just a very expensive hand wash. This weekend, you could walk out with a free book instead.

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From Friday, June 26, through Sunday, June 28, luxury skincare brand Aesop is bringing back its annual Queer Library initiative, transforming select stores into literary spaces stocked with books by LGBTQ+ authors. Better yet, visitors can take home a complimentary title, no purchase necessary, while supplies last.

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Now in its sixth year, the program has distributed more than 115,000 books worldwide, turning the minimalist skincare shops into unexpected hubs for queer storytelling. This year's edition, titled "Body of Work," celebrates writing that centers queer bodies and experiences, highlighting authors whose work challenges assumptions, broadens perspectives and offers what Aesop calls an act of "joyful resistance."

New Yorkers can head to Aesop's Nolita outpost, where its shelves replace lotions and serums with books by writers including James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Ocean Vuong, Torrey Peters, Brandon Taylor, Alejandro Varela and Kristen Arnett. Think of it as Pride Month's chicest pop-up library.

For Brooklynites, the Aesop Park Slope store will host a Reading Room featuring a smaller curated selection of titles and space to linger over them.

The initiative is once again being presented in collaboration with the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and publisher Penguin Random House. Alongside printed books, a selection of audiobooks will also be available online, extending the project beyond the stores themselves.

The timing is sadly all too apt. As book bans and challenges continue to rise across the country, projects that amplify queer voices carry special resonance.

Of course, this is still Aesop, so expect the books to be displayed with the same meticulous aesthetic sensibility as the brand's signature amber bottles. But unlike that parsley seed facial cleanser you've been eyeing and then putting back, these literary souvenirs won't cost you a thing.

The Aesop Queer Library runs June 26 through June 28 at Aesop Nolita (226 Elizabeth Street) and additional participating locations, while supplies last. For more information, click here.

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