Above is a gift link to a fascinating article by Jennifer Schuesseler in the July 5, 2024, New York Times about "how the women who ran libraries during the Harlem Renaissance built collections, and just as important, communities of writers and readers." It recounts much of the history of Black librarians and the collections dedicated to Black life and literature that they built. 

One of my favorite parts of the article tells about how in the 1950s a librarian at Howard University created new subject headings "like passing, Pan-Africanism and the blues" left out of the early Dewey Decimal System and the Library of Congress subject headings. 

It's also a celebration of librarians and the vital work they do in their communities today. Tracie D. Hall, the first female Black executive director of the American Library Association, believes that librarians need to be warriors. And Black librarians, especially. She says,"Because there are so few of us, our work has to be of consequence."

The article also mentions Librarian of Congress, Carla Hayden!

In 1925, the New York Public Library system established the first public collection dedicated to Black materials at its 135th Street branch in Harlem, now known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Credit...New York Public Library

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