The Aesop Queer Library returns to Soho, swapping beauty for LGBTQ+ books
This year’s featured book is titled The Log Books by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith, which draws from Switchboard’s archives
By Aaron Sugg
The Aesop Queer Library has announced its return to London’s Soho on 3 July for its sixth edition, spotlighting the historic LGBTQ+ helpline Switchboard.
The initiative celebrates queer literature and community-based stories, continuing Aesop’s focus on platforming underrepresented voices.
Unlike a normal bookshop, visitors to the Aesop Queer Library don’t have to buy anything – they can simply pick a book for free and take it home with them.
The Aesop Queer Library honours Switchboard with The Log Books
This year spotlights Switchboard, a volunteer LGBTQ+ helpline founded in 1974, which has supported around 4 million queer people, helping them navigate life through the HIV/AIDS pandemic and into the current political climate we live in today.
This year’s featured book is titled The Log Books by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith, which draws from Switchboard’s archives – “an intimate exploration of intergenerational queer heritage, charting four decades of LGBTQ+ life in Britain through the call logs.”
Walker and Zmith said: “We now understood our elders’ stories, we knew them, and finally we could hold each other against the tides of time.”
Aesop Queer Library is sharing donations between two LGBTQ+ charities
The project is supporting LGBTQ+ charities, with donations going towards Switchboard and trans+ charity Not a Phase.
The Aesop Queer Library will be at Aesop Soho, 41 Lexington Street, London, from 3 to 5 July 2026, with additional Reading Rooms at Aesop Spitalfields (3–5 July) and Aesop Brighton (31 July–2 August).
Aesop is a British skincare brand that has devoted several of its stores to LGBTQ+ stories, swapping the beauty products stocked on its shelves with books by queer authors.