When I initially began think about this project, I was confident that I would research children’s libraries. However, as I thought and thought, I realized that I didn’t know very much about library services to blacks. This was ironic to me, as I am black. I began thinking about the past. As far as I can remember, I have never been denied access to any library. I thought about the Civil Rights era and all that was fought for. I thought past that to the period after slavery. I couldn’t remember ever hearing anything about library usage by blacks. This was a very broad topic to cover and could go very deep. I decided to touch on the period after slavery and the Civil Rights movement. What I wanted to know was what struggles did blacks have when it came to library usage. Who advocated for blacks? Who were the first black librarians and where did they study and work?
As I get older, I am more and more interested in the history of my people. Yes, we have entire month that focuses on us, however, we are given the same information year after year. We are told of the same black heroes and movements. We learn about new people in black history. What about the old ones, the pioneers? What about the untold stories? Everyone has heard of the bus boycott or the sit-ins at restaurants. Everyone knows about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. What about the sit-ins at the library? What about the black and white people that helped integrate the library?
The journey to learn about public library service to blacks was exciting yet tough. My biggest challenge was finding information specifically about northern libraries. I found information about southern libraries, but not much on northern libraries and service. To gather information, I searched the internet for websites and pictures. I searched for scholarly articles. I even asked a few co-workers what they knew. They could not help me. They hadn’t read or learned anything about the topic. They were also too young to remember or know anything about libraries during that time. I asked my 90-year-old mother-in-law (who was raised in Chicago) and she couldn’t even tell me anything. This is a topic that I would like to investigate further. It is an important part of American and Black history.
As I get older, I am more and more interested in the history of my people. Yes, we have entire month that focuses on us, however, we are given the same information year after year. We are told of the same black heroes and movements. We learn about new people in black history. What about the old ones, the pioneers? What about the untold stories? Everyone has heard of the bus boycott or the sit-ins at restaurants. Everyone knows about Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. What about the sit-ins at the library? What about the black and white people that helped integrate the library?
The journey to learn about public library service to blacks was exciting yet tough. My biggest challenge was finding information specifically about northern libraries. I found information about southern libraries, but not much on northern libraries and service. To gather information, I searched the internet for websites and pictures. I searched for scholarly articles. I even asked a few co-workers what they knew. They could not help me. They hadn’t read or learned anything about the topic. They were also too young to remember or know anything about libraries during that time. I asked my 90-year-old mother-in-law (who was raised in Chicago) and she couldn’t even tell me anything. This is a topic that I would like to investigate further. It is an important part of American and Black history.
This website was created by Felecia Tate
LS580 History of Libraries
April 28, 2017
LS580 History of Libraries
April 28, 2017