Black History Archives | American Libraries Magazine

Golden Arches, Black Franchises

By Terra Dankowski | June 25, 2019

“The reason I’m conversant in [race, social justice, and public policy] topics is because it all started at the library,” she told those gathered for the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services President’s Program at the American Library Association’s 2019 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., on June 24. Chatelain reminisced about being dropping off … Continue reading Golden Arches, Black Franchises →

ALA Honors African Americans Who Fought Library Segregation

July 3, 2018

Resolution to Honor African Americans Who Fought Library Segregation Whereas the system of “Jim Crow” laws and customs officially existed into the 1960s—a century after the official end of slavery in the United States; Whereas virulent racism, disenfranchisement, Black Codes, and racial segregation laws imposed a rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in virtually … Continue reading ALA Honors African Americans Who Fought Library Segregation →

Members of an African drum and dance ensemble lead patrons in a performance routine as part of Richland Library's day-long Black History Month Fair on January 28, 2017. Photo: Richland Library

Every Month Is Black History Month

By Quincy Pugh | March 1, 2018

Richland Library in Columbia, South Carolina, needed a better way to reach its African-American community. Quincy Pugh, film and sound manager, explains how the decision to celebrate black history year-round and start “I Have a Problem with That”—a series of panel discussions that address challenging social issues—has boosted program attendance and engagement among its target … Continue reading Every Month Is Black History Month →

Jessie Carney Smith in 1965, her first year as a university librarian at Fisk University in Nashville.

Blazing Trails

By Greg Landgraf | January 2, 2018

American Libraries spoke with five leading African-American librarians about their careers, the changes they have witnessed over the decades, and the current issues in librarianship. While no two people have the same story, all five interviewees note inclusivity as an important theme. They discuss libraries as safe havens, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the … Continue reading Blazing Trails →

Patricia Bearden (left) and Raquel Flores-Clemons present “Partners in History: Chicago State University Archive and International Society of Sons and Daughters of Slave Ancestry Digital Collaboration" at DPLAfest in Chicago on April 20.

DPLAfest Comes to Chicago

By John Amundsen | April 25, 2017

Several presentations highlighted efforts to document, preserve, and share digital collections on social justice and community engagement. Preserving African-American history on Chicago’s South Side “Partners in History: Chicago State University Archive and International Society of Sons and Daughters of Slave Ancestry Digital Collaboration,” led by Chicago State University (CSU) Archivist Raquel Flores-Clemons, Patricia Bearden, president … Continue reading DPLAfest Comes to Chicago →

Former Broward County (Fla.) Library Director Samuel F. Morrison stands next to a replica of himself. It stands at the entrance of the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center in Fort Lauderdale.

This Former Library Director Is Beside Himself

By Alison Marcotte | October 9, 2015

Morrison, who received his master’s in library science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, became director of the Broward County library system in 1990 and retired in 2003. As director, he began campaigning to build AARLCC, and in 2002, the 60,000-square-foot facility opened as a branch of Broward County Library. Its collection of books, … Continue reading This Former Library Director Is Beside Himself →

Black History Month Graphic Novels for Your Collection

By Sarah Hunter | February 5, 2015

Need to refresh your Black History Month offerings? Here are some graphic novels, both fiction and nonfiction, that address Black History in dynamic, engaging ways. For Adults: Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White By Lila Quintero Weaver. Illus. by the author. 2012. Univ. of Alabama, paper, $24.95 (9780817357146). Perry County, Alabama, was a hotbed … Continue reading Black History Month Graphic Novels for Your Collection →

Latest Library Links

13h

Tor Haugan writes: “Outside a select group of researchers, demography nerds, genealogists, and dataphiles, the US census is often considered a staid and decidedly unsexy part of American civic life, like serving on a jury or paying taxes. But a richly detailed, incisive, and delightfully wonky new exhibit in the UC-Berkeley Doe Library is challenging that. ‘Power and the People: The US Census and Who Counts’ opened in September, providing an inside look at some of the fascinating stories and hidden gems relating to the nationwide decennial drive for data through maps, data, and other library treasures.”

UC Berkeley Library News, Sept. 24
14h

Patrons of the Millinocket (Maine) Memorial Library can not only check out the latest Stephen King book, they can borrow one of the library’s many mountain bikes, canoes, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, or sets of cross-country skis and take them out for a spin in the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument or on the new Katahdin Area Trails. The equipment, which was donated to the library by the Outdoor Sport Institute, makes up the new Katahdin Gear Library, and is free and open to anyone. “If ecotourism and the outdoors is what’s going to save the Katahdin region, then that’s what we need to offer to our patrons,” said Director Matt DeLaney.

Bangor (Maine) Daily News, Sept. 23
15h

Barbara Fister writes: “Libraries are easy pickings for layoffs because librarians’ labor is almost by design fairly invisible. When you click on a database link and download an article, it may take only a second, but people did a lot of work to make that happen: They selected and negotiated a license annually for that database, put links to it in all the right places on the library website, changed them when the vendor randomly decided to rebrand, and did a ton of work to make sure the links to hundreds of thousands of individual articles actually work. When all goes well, it appears seamless. We want to save the time of the reader. But it’s a ton of labor that nobody sees.”

Inside Higher Ed: Library Babel Fish, Sept. 18
16h

Alexandra Alter writes: “In an era plagued by deep fakes and online disinformation campaigns, we still tend to trust what we read in books. But should we? In the past year alone, errors in books by several high-profile authors—including Naomi Wolf, Jill Abramson, Jared Diamond, Paul Dolan, and Michael Wolff—have ignited a debate over whether publishers should take more responsibility for the accuracy of their books. While in the fallout of each accuracy scandal everyone asks where the fact checkers are, but there isn’t broad agreement on who should be paying for what is a time-consuming, labor-intensive process in the low-margin publishing industry.”

New York Times, Sept. 22
18h

Mark Joseph Stern writes: “The Trump administration has threatened to withdraw federal funding from the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies because it does not portray Christianity or Judaism in a sufficiently positive light. A letter from the Department of Education—sent on September 17 and reported by the New York Times—directed the program to emphasize ‘positive aspects’ of these and other non-Islamic religions in the Middle East. If it refuses, the department may strip the program of hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Slate, Sept. 20
19h

Margaret Renkl writes: “When the Rev. Dan Reehil, a Catholic priest, ordered the removal of all Harry Potter books from the St. Edward parish school library in Nashville, Tennessee, in August, the community demanded an explanation. Reehil responded by email, noting that he had ‘consulted several exorcists, both in the United States and in Rome,’ and had been assured that the ‘curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text.’ Harry Potter and his friends don’t exist in real life, but they wrestle with real-life challenges: bullies, rejection, loneliness, fear, grief—and, yes, with clueless adults whose behavior is patently ludicrous.”

New York Times, Sept. 23
19h

Librarians at the Homewood (Ill.) Public Library celebrated Banned Books Week in 2017 by collaborating to create a parody music video titled Leer Despacito, a Banned Book Week parody of Despacito by Luis Fonsi with Justin Bieber. They adapted the visual look and music of Fonsi’s Spanish-language dancehall song. This black-and-white video shows young readers who encounter banned books by Hispanic authors.

Homewood Library YouTube channel, Sept. 24, 2017

View more Latest Library Links