Freedom libraries The untold story of libraries for African Americans in the South

Mike Selby, 1976-

Book - 2019

"Although illegal, racial segregation was strictly enforced in a number of American states, and public libraries were not immune. Numerous libraries were desegregated on paper only: there would be no cards given to African Americans, no books for them to read, and no furniture for them to use. It was these exact conditions that helped create Freedom Libraries. Over eighty of these parallel libraries appeared in the Deep South, staffed by civil rights voter registration workers. While the grassroots nature of the libraries meant they varied in size and quality, all of them created the first encounter many African Americans had with a library. Terror, bombings, and eventually murder would be visited on the Freedom Libraries--with people ...giving up their lives so others could read a library book. This book delves into how these libraries were the heart of the Civil Rights Movement and the remarkable courage of the people who used them"--Back cover.

Saved in:

2nd Floor Show me where

027.63/Selby
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
2nd Floor 027.63/Selby Checked In
Subjects
Published
Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield [2019]
Language
English
Main Author
Mike Selby, 1976- (author)
Physical Description
xiv, 193 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-185) and index.
ISBN
9781538115534
  • The American public library meets the Civil Rights Movement
  • Mississippi: the people without books
  • We are afraid: the Freedom Libraries
  • White backlash: 35 shootings; 80 beatings; 65 bombings
  • Alabama: books in the black belt
  • Philadelphia: books by and for black people
  • Arkansas: we are all connected
  • Aftermath: the long dream.
Review by Choice Review

The Civil Rights Movement was known as the freedom struggle, and its centers took on this nomenclature as well, particularly freedom houses and freedom schools, which are two of the better-documented elements of the movement. Readers should not be surprised by the addition of freedom libraries to this list, yet it is surprising how little is known of their history. All the more reason to welcome this book exactly on that subject: libraries created and fostered by civil rights activists to provide reading material to African Americans in the South, who often had little access to free public libraries and their resources (needless to say, official city libraries were segregated). This book by Selby, a professional librarian, clearly bears the marks of a passionate personal project, and the author greatly enriches this little-known chapter in the history of the freedom struggle. The text is full of personal stories and testimonies, many of which will be fairly unknown even to scholars in the field. If there's ever a book that all libraries ought to have, it's this book about grassroots libraries organized for people who hungered for the knowledge that would lead to freedom. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. --Paul Harvey, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.