What do you currently enjoy most about Quatrefoil Library? What do you wish might be different for Quatrefoil in the future?

Take our survey by clicking here. You are also welcome to stop by our board office hours to discuss your ideas — Saturday, August 26th from 11-1 at the library.

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The third annual Quatrefoil Scholarship winner is Jay Thompson, a University of Minnesota sophomore who is pursuing a double major in Psychology and Spanish Studies. 

Robel Tedros, a U of M senior, received a runner-up award.

Thompson emerged from among many impressive applicants because of his desire “to help LGBTQ+ youth struggling with mental disorders, in the same way that I have struggled.” He received $1,000 to assist with tuition.

Growing up as a trans person in Minocqua, Wisconsin, Thompson experienced depression and gender dysphoria and sought help from a therapist. “It was such a good experience for me,” he says. That led him to declare his major in Psychology by the end of his freshman year at the U.

Thompson, an avid reader and gamer, hopes to study abroad as part of his Spanish major, and to attend graduate school. 

He imagines a career that can help others. “Working with LGBTQ+ youth, particularly those who are transgender, I know that I will be able to create life-lasting connections that will benefit those who are struggling with their mental health,” Thompson said in his application. “No one should have to live in fear of being themselves. I can change that, and I will.”

Robel Tedros is completing his degree in African-American and African Studies with double minors in political science and philosophy. The  free-lance pianist, singer and actor is passionate about social justice issues and says he believes that there is much work to be done to support African people who are neurodivergent and/or LGBTQ. He received an award of $250.

The Quatrefoil Scholarship fund welcomes donations to support deserving students in future years. Please go to bit.ly/Qscholar and select Scholarship Fund to direct a tax-deductible gift in any amount to this ongoing effort. Thank you!

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August 27, 2020

Jimmy Arnold, a 20-year-old cultural studies/comparative literature major at the University of Minnesota/Twin Cities, has won the second annual Quatrefoil Library Scholarship.

Arnold (they/them), a junior at the U, receives $1,000 to help with tuition.

This year for the first time, Quatrefoil also awarded $250 to each of four runners-up from a field of 10 applicants.

Quatrefoil is a community center that cultivates the free exchange of ideas and makes accessible LGBTQ+ materials for education and inspiration.

Arnold grew up in Rochester, Minnesota, where they found a sense of belonging at the public library. “That was the only space where there was space for me and my friends, who were largely other trans youth,” Arnold said in a recent interview. “Now there are more spaces, which is cool. Even in these five years, trans politics and queer politics have come so far, it’s a a totally different world. My relationship to libraries is one of love.”

“We were impressed with Jimmy’s combination of library experience and zine work,” said Paul Kaefer, chair of Quatrefoil’s scholarship committee. “Among a very impressive applicant pool, Jimmy stood out as representative of our mission in both prior experience and aspirations.”

Between classes in queer and critical theory, film and literature, Arnold works at the U’s Wilson Library. They also have been busy this year organizing to assist those lacking shelter or in need of food, at the Grease Pit free store in Minneapolis’ Phillips neighborhood and at Sister Camelot, a free organic-food truck.

A poet, Arnold has published a chapbook and has another one coming out, and has been a creator of zines since they were 12.

Arnold names punk as an important ethic, and Jean Genet as a favorite author. They cite Genet’s Querelle as a favorite novel and Cruising Utopia as a favorite non-fiction book.

Since the age of 15 or so, Arnold figured on becoming a librarian, but remains open to other post-college pursuits. “I’m really committed to the mutual aid work that I’ve been doing, and that might hinder going into academia,” they said.

“It’s been a complicated path,” Arnold said when asked to comment on gender and sexual identity. “I transitioned initially when I was 14. Before that I thought I might be a lesbian, and that didn’t work out because now I’m a queer man, so…. I don’t know what else there is to say. It informs the way I move through the world.”

Each of these four Quatrefoil Scholarship runners-up receives a $250 award:

Chris Danner (he/him), also a student at the University of Minnesota, showed an impressive dedication to volunteer work and a commitment “to creating more opportunities for BIPOC, LGBTQ+ individuals, and other historically marginalized groups by focusing on ‘front-line’ workers in farms, processing plants, distributors, and food service/retail.”

Miki Schumacher (they/them) is a poet and aspires to teach ESL and work for a publisher or a literary magazine that centers historically underrepresented writers.

Natividad Herrera (she/her), is majoring in social work at St. Catherine University, and demonstrated both a financial need and a strong commitment to community.

Sophie Warrick (she/her), will graduate next May from Hamline University, and expressed a desire to use the scholarship for a photography project of queer people in rural Minnesota.

Applications for the next Quatrefoil Scholarship are due at the end of June 2021. Visit qlibrary.org for more information.

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Gen Deyo, a sophomore majoring in comic arts at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, has won the 2022 Quatrefoil Scholarship.

Quatrefoil, a nonprofit, all-volunteer LGBTQ+ library and community center, annually awards $1,000 to help young Minnesotans with tuition.

Deyo, 19, grew up in Champlin, Minn., and attended Champlin High School, where they were president of the art club and co-president of the school’s gender and sexuality acceptance group.

While still in high school, Deyo attracted a large following on TikTok for their fan art inspired by such animated series as Avatar: The Last Air Bender and She-Ra: Princess of Power.

“That gave me confidence to pursue art as a career,” Deyo said.

Deyo began coming-out at age 11, identifying now as a non-binary lesbian.

“It’s important to acknowledge what a label means to others, but labels are fluid,” Deyo said. “Each individual has expectations as to what their identity means and how willing they are to share that. Just being respectful of everyone’s queer journey is important.”

At MCAD, in an atmosphere they describe as “very queer-friendly,” Deyo is pursuing a full schedule of classes and working on longer sequential literature, including a gothic graphic novel they are doing with collaborators.

Inspirations include Alison Bechdel (Fun Home, Are You My Mother?) and Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell (Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me).

Deyo believes that a queer library like Quatrefoil plays a crucial role by offering “free media to make sure that our stories are accessible and not buried under heteronormative work.”

In their own life, Deyo is determined to be part of that process, saying, “I hope to create more work that empowers everyone to be seen, to be known, and to be loved for who they are.”

Deyo is the fourth winner of a Quatrefoil Scholarship. Their award is made possible entirely by library friends and donors. To make a tax-deductible gift to Quatrefoil, click here.

For more information on the Quatrefoil Library scholarship (including information on how to apply), visit this page.

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Quatrefoil Library is pleased to announce the launch of its first-ever collection of e-books and audiobooks. Anyone with a Q Card may browse a diverse and growing selection of new and classic LGBTQ+ books and borrow items with a few clicks. Thanks to the generosity of a Quatrefoil board member and a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, all Q Digital items may be borrowed at no charge.

It’s easy! First, sign up to get a free Q Card at the library, or apply for one online. Patrons may get a physical Q Card or a virtual one. Then, download Libby at your App store, or navigate to Libby on your computer.

Go here for a helpful primer called “Getting Started with Libby.”

When Libby asks you to select your library, type in “Quatrefoil”. Input the unique number that appears on your Q Card. Add your password, which is simply “QUATREFOIL”. You are ready to begin borrowing!

E-books and audiobooks may be borrowed for up to 14 days, and may be renewed unless there’s a wait list for the title. Filters let you browse just YA books, say, or just non-fiction. Quatrefoil will let you know about popular books or those recently added.

The library’s acquisitions team will continue to add Q Digital titles, with an emphasis on diversity and representation. Books by and about queer people of color make up more than 25% of the initial digital collection.

“Buying licenses for e-books and audiobooks is expensive,” Peck said. “Looking ahead, we will rely on donors to help us build our growing digital collection, since Quatrefoil is committed to making these materials available for free.”

Make a gift to Quatrefoil at www.qlibrary.org or send a check to: Quatrefoil Library, 1220 E. Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55407.

This activity is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metro Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

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Find all the books below in our collection.

Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul | Ryka Aoki

From the author of Light from Uncommon Stars, Aoki’s debut poetry collection Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul investigates transgender and Asian American womanhood, and the ways in which we show up for each other in times of grief.

A History of My Brief Body | Billy-Ray Belcourt

A genre between poetry, memoir, and essay, A History of My Brief Body is a meditation on queerness, indigeneity, sex, and masculinity in which Belcourt finds himself speaking, with great care, to his grandmother.

Water I Won’t Touch | Kayleb Rae Candrilli

Written while the author was healing from a gender-affirming double mastectomy, Water I Won’t Touch considers safety, family, addiction, pain, and how one’s family has a hand in who you’ll become but it doesn’t set the whole story.

Soft Science | Franny Choi

In an extreme modernization of poetic form, Choi’s poems mimic the structure of computer programming languages in Soft Science, drawing parallels between white perceptions of Asian American femininity and the servitude of robots.

Wound from the Mouth of a Wound | Torrin A. Greathouse

Beginning with a rewrite of the story of Medusa, Wound from the Mouth of a Wound wraps the intensity and pain of life as a survivor and as a disabled woman in myth and beauty, pulling no punches and leaving you breathless. 

Madness | Sam Sax

Toying with the clinical language of psychiatry and the familiar language of sex, Madness succinctly closes the distance between the imaginary and the reality of mental illness, physical illness, and addiction.

Don’t Call Us Dead: poems | Danez Smith

From imagining an afterlife for Black boys killed by police to considering the truth of their own body in space, Smith builds an astonishing collection of poems on mortality, Blackness, and joy in Don’t Call Us Dead.

Gephyromania | T.C. Tolbert

A study of the spaces in between, Gephyromania (literally an addiction to or obsession with bridges) rejects the binaries of gender, sex, love, and the self, and instead finds itself praising the holy place in which they all meet.

All the Flowers Kneeling | Paul Tran

Playing with form and delighting in language, All the Flowers Kneeling is a stunning debut about surviving sexual assault, healing intergenerational trauma, and acknowledging the pain of both.

Night Sky with Exit Wounds | Ocean Vuong

In his debut full-length collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds, Vuong tackles nearly all the “big” poetic topics—war, family, memory, grief, love—and does so with the unending grace and patience of a poet over twice his age.

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2022 was a momentous year for us. We continued to emerge from our COVID shutdown, with highlights including numerous events and our launch of free e-books and audiobooks. Read our annual report to read the summary of 2022 at the library, get to know our new board president, and view our financial update.

This year has started out strong, with a series of poetry events, growing partnerships with other organizations, and planning for participation in various Pride Fests. Here’s to a continued year of community events and planning for our future.

Check out our 2022 annual report:

2022 Annual Report

Sign up for Your Free Q Card!

May 4, 2023

Click here to sign-up for your free membership. This includes free access to Q Digital, our e-book and audiobook platform. Read below for more details about that.

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