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In the mid-20th century, public libraries were not immune to racial segregation practices in the United States, illegal though they were. Many libraries were desegregated on paper only and in practice did not allow African Americans to use them: there would be no cards given to African Americans, no books for African Americans to read and no furniture for them to use.
Under these conditions, "freedom libraries" began to evolve, created by civil rights movement activists who installed libraries and called for book donations, which came from all over the country.
Over eighty of these parallel libraries appeared in the deep South, staffed by civil rights voter registration workers. They varied in size and quality but all of them created the first encounter many African-Americans had with a library. Terror, bombings, and eventually murder would be visited on freedom libraries with people giving up their lives so others could read a library book.
B.C.-born and raised, Mike Selby has written about these unique civil rights initiatives in Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South (Rowman & Littlefield $36). Selby trained, and now works, as a professional librarian. He is also a newspaper columnist. He received his MLIS from the University of Alabama, which is where he first unearthed the story of the freedom libraries. His book delves into how these libraries were at the heart of the civil rights movement and the remarkable courage of the people who used them.
Selby has published over 900 articles about libraries, reading and print culture. He also has two peer-reviewed academic pieces published (both on the topic of freedom libraries).
BOOKS:
Mike Selby wrote: Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South (Rowman & Littlefield 2019) $36 978-1-5381-1553-4
[BCBW 2019]
Under these conditions, "freedom libraries" began to evolve, created by civil rights movement activists who installed libraries and called for book donations, which came from all over the country.
Over eighty of these parallel libraries appeared in the deep South, staffed by civil rights voter registration workers. They varied in size and quality but all of them created the first encounter many African-Americans had with a library. Terror, bombings, and eventually murder would be visited on freedom libraries with people giving up their lives so others could read a library book.
B.C.-born and raised, Mike Selby has written about these unique civil rights initiatives in Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South (Rowman & Littlefield $36). Selby trained, and now works, as a professional librarian. He is also a newspaper columnist. He received his MLIS from the University of Alabama, which is where he first unearthed the story of the freedom libraries. His book delves into how these libraries were at the heart of the civil rights movement and the remarkable courage of the people who used them.
Selby has published over 900 articles about libraries, reading and print culture. He also has two peer-reviewed academic pieces published (both on the topic of freedom libraries).
BOOKS:
Mike Selby wrote: Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South (Rowman & Littlefield 2019) $36 978-1-5381-1553-4
[BCBW 2019]
