The Terry Mangan Memorial Library is home to more than 3,000 volumes of LGBTQ texts, making it the largest lending library of its kind in the state.

Built entirely on donations, the original seed collection was gifted to The Center in 1976 in memory of Terry Mangan, one of Colorado’s first gay activists and archivists.

From leisure-reading fiction to LGBTQ history and everything in between, The Terry Mangan Memorial Library houses a diverse collection of books, magazines, journals, and other materials.

The library can be found on the first floor of The Center and is open to the public. All materials are available for circulation.



About Terry Mangan

Terry Mangan was one of the five cofounders of The Gay Coalition of Denver, along with Jane Dundee, Mary Sassatelli, Lynn Tamlin, and Gerald Gerash. Terry was chair of the Political Committee which met with members of Denver City Council to protest arrests of gay men by Vice Squad during the late 60s and early 60s. The committee documented more than 300 arrests by the Denver Vice Squad during those years. Under Terry’s leadership, the committee organized a massive protest Denver City Council on October 23, 1973.  The protest was documented in the film Gay Revolt at Denver City Council And How It Changed Our World, produced by Gerry Gerash. About 15 minutes into the documentary, Terry gave a brilliant speech describing typical arrests at that time based on the criminal court records. Terry was also the Gay Coalition's archivist. Terry worked for the Colorado Historical Society.  His book Colorado on Glass won the award for the best book of 1976, Colorado's centennial year. Terry died in 1978.