The National Library of Medicine exhibit AIDS, Posters, and Stories of Public Health: A People’s History of a Pandemic will be displayed at three NOLS locations:
Forks Branch Library
- December 15-27 during library hours.
- Documentary The Last One will play Monday-Saturday at 10:30am, 2:00pm, and 4:30pm.
Clallam Bay Branch Library
- December 29-January 5 during library hours.
- Documentary The Last One will play Monday-Friday at 11:30am and 3:30pm.
Port Angeles Main Library
- January 6-24 during library hours.
- Reception on Tuesday, January 6, 6:30-8pm, with Kitsap Public Health District presentation and discussion.
Along with the exhibit, displays of AIDS Memorial Quilt panels and blank quilt squares will be provided by Kitsap Public Health District. Free resources on HIV, AIDS, and public health will also be available while supplies last.
The exhibit is curated by guest curator, writer, and organizer Theodore (Ted) Kerr.
The traveling banner exhibition and companion website explore how AIDS posters serve as highly adaptable, durable, cost effective, efficient tools in sharing public health messaging.
Created by communities bonded together by illness and a desire to make change, these posters provide a gateway to AIDS history, illustrating how, in the face of illness, neglect, and, early on, the unknown, people came together to connect, create, and save one another’s lives. Today, AIDS posters continue to be valuable resources for the ongoing epidemic. They teach us about community organizing processes and the ways that groups dealing with HIV heal, share fears, and strategize toward wellness together.
AIDS, Posters, and Stories of Public Health includes a resource component featuring medical sources and a digital gallery that further explores selected works from the historical collections of the National Library Medicine, which are also available in their entirety in NLM Digital Collections.
The National Library of Medicine produced this exhibition and companion website.
Join a free public panel discussion and reception on January 6 at the Port Angeles Main Library, from 6:30 to 8pm. Representatives from Kitsap Public Health District will provide a short presentation on case management, then lead a panel discussion. Attendees will be able to view the exhibit inside the library after the discussion.
The Last One is a feature-length documentary tracing the history of the AIDS Memorial Quilt as an international art project and the role it continues to play as a response to a disease that still imperils vulnerable communities around the world.
Through the intensely personal stories of its founders, volunteers, and panelmakers, The Last One examines how stigma and discrimination exacerbated and still fuel a disease that has already claimed the lives of 30 million people and currently infects 34 million men, women and children around the globe—including 50,000 new infections a year in the US alone.
Documentary Screenings
- Forks Branch Library: December 15-27 , Monday-Saturday at 10:30am, 2:00pm, and 4:30pm.
- Clallam Bay Branch Library: December 29-January 5 , Monday-Friday at 11:30am and 3:30pm.
Pick up information resources on HIV, AIDS, and public health at any NOLS location or the Bookmobile. Posters, stickers, pill organizers, and more resources from the CDC, FTC, FDA, and other health services will be available (while supplies last).
Information is available both for people living with HIV/AIDS and for community members and loved ones. CDC resources highlight the role that each person plays in stopping HIV stigma and give voice to people living with HIV, as well as their friends and family.
From December 15 through January 24, AIDS Memorial Quilt panels courtesy of Kitsap Public Health District will be on display at the Port Angeles Main Library and Forks Branch Library, in conjunction with the AIDS, Posters, and Stories of Public Health: A People’s History of a Pandemic exhibit.
Submit an AIDS Memorial Quilt square
Pick up a blank quilt square during the display period at the Port Angeles, Forks, or Clallam Bay library locations. Community members are welcome to personalize these squares in honor, remembrance, or celebration of a loved one lost to AIDS.
View the interactive, searchable National AIDS Memorial Quilt online at AIDSmemorial.org. Users can search the quilt by a person’s name or assigned block number, or browse any of the 50,000 panels, which include the names of over 105,000 lives lost to AIDS. Review the instructions for designing a quilt square. Fiber art, paint, collage, and photos may be included in your quilt square.
Quilt squares returned to NOLS by Monday, February 2, 2026, will be given to Kitsap Public Health District to include in the National AIDS Memorial Quilt. Participants who finish quilt squares after February 2 may submit them to the National AIDS Memorial or mail them to Kitsap Public Health District.
Thank you to our Partners
