A.K. Smiley Public Library Blog

Serving the City of Redlands, California since 1894

MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH: "You don't have to struggle in silence. You can be un-silent. You can live well with a mental health condition, as long as you open up to someone about it." - Demi Lovato

DID YOU KNOW? Carla Hayden is our current and 14th Librarian of Congress, becoming the first woman and the first African American to lead our national library.

“…in the segregated South, with so many doors closed without explanation to me, libraries and books said, ‘Here I am -- read me.’” – Maya Angelou

Extensive list of books, DVDs, webinars, and databases exploring Black history and culture

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The staff of A.K. Smiley Public Library has gathered a list from our collections of books and DVDs featuring Black history and culture themes with which to honor, remember, and inspire. Most of the items are new, but a few are older and may be just new-to-you. We hope you’ll take a moment to explore and discover an item or two in which you may learn a little something you didn’t know.

Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a son of formerly enslaved parents, embarked on the establishment of February as Black History Month. He was a teacher and school administrator who in 1912 became the second African American, after W.E.B. Du Bois, to earn a PhD from Harvard University. In February 1926 he launched the precursor of the celebration with “Negro History Week,” designated for the second week in February to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Dr. Woodson also founded the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Each year the Association, which continues to support Dr. Woodson’s cause, assigns a theme to the celebration. The theme for 2021 is “The Black Family: Representation, Identity, and Diversity” — ideas to ponder as we read.

Please refer to previous blog post Celebrating Black Authors and Black Lives for additional titles. Take a look too at our extensive Catalog for older items on the subject, as well as those for children and young adults. Check them out through our Books to Go program or in person during our new public hours.

Also, don’t forget our eLibrary which includes, besides e-items for download, the new Black Life in America database. This primary source collection provides materials in which you may research the experience and impact of African Americans as recorded by the news media, 1704 to today. It is an expansive window into centuries of African American history, culture, and daily life–as well as the ways the dominant culture has portrayed and perceived people of African descent.

And finally, for even more ways in which to learn about Black history, view the Heritage Room’s Black History Month webinar series. available for viewing at the AKSPL Special Collections YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx1V0OiVDDpGORavA_W6icQ,  or on Facebook under the Video tab.

The offerings include:

Also, we encourage you to visit these sites, the Library of Congress at  https://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov, and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) at https://www.pbs.org/articles/2021/02/celebrate-black-history-month-2021/.

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Autobiographies, Biographies, and Memoirs

Cookbooks

DVDs

DVD Documentaries

Fiction

Graphic Novels

History

Humor

Literature

Music

Poetry

Politics, Civil Rights, Law

Sciences, Philosophy, Journalism, Language, Mathematics, Technology, Performing Arts

Social Sciences

Sports