Tag Archives: social justice

Author & Activist exhibit

Posted by on October 27, 2020 1 comment

Visit this exhibit at https://rosenbach.org/virtual-exhibits/

“ALICE DUNBAR-NELSON (1875–1935), poet, novelist, journalist, teacher, diarist, women’s suffrage organizer, civil rights leader, lecturer, political leader, and survivor of intimate partner violence, is a hero for our time. She combined her skills as an author and political activist to fight for social change.

“Born into the first generation of Black Americans after the end of slavery, Dunbar-Nelson represents a bridge between the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War and the civil rights movement of the mid-1900s. Her writings and social causes, which centered on race, gender, and power, feel as urgent today as they did during Dunbar-Nelson’s lifetime.”

As you explore the exhibition, we invite you to consider how Alice Dunbar-Nelson’s life and work can inspire residents of the United States today. How much has changed for women (especially women of color), LGBTQ+ people, Black Americans, and other people of color since Dunbar-Nelson pursued her activism in the early 20th century? How can we carry on the work she started? How can artifacts found in museums, libraries, and archives help us discover previously overlooked historical figures?

Thematic sections structure “I Am an American!,” meaning that the exhibition offers interpretive views into the life, times, and work of Alice Dunbar-Nelson.Thus, the documents and objects on view are not organized chronologically.

Secrets of the Librarians: Free Black Women’s Library

Posted by on June 3, 2019 No comments

If you’re looking for a great new read, Book Marks has started a weekly series called Secrets of the Librarians. Every week, they interview a librarian (“be they Academic, Public, School, or Special”) about “their inspirations, most-recommended titles, thoughts on the role of the library in contemporary society, favorite fictional librarians, and more.”

In mid-May, they interviewed OlaRonke Akinmowo, who is the founder of a social-justice initiative called the Free Black Women’s Library.

Says Akinmowo:

I have to say that I do not have a master’s degree in Library Sciences or any official training and did not go to school to become a librarian, I started the Free Black Women’s Library as a social art project to because I wanted to do something that smashed together the things I am passionate about: books, black womanhood, and community. I wanted to explore the idea of using books by black women to build community, create change, educate, heal, inspire spread joy. I wanted to do something that centered black women but in a way that didn’t feel tragic, traumatic or pathological, something that showed our brilliance, imagination, strength and diversity. I love books and I love libraries, they feel like one of the few safe places on earth (depending on who is running the space).

Akinmowo recommends readers check out Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde, and The Sun is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon. Though the Free Black Women’s Library is in Brooklyn, NY, you can can a head start on this recommended reading by checking out Sister Outsider from The Ames Library! We have both a physical copy and an e-book. There are also several books by black women writers in our free lending Social Justice & Diversity Room collection on the main floor.

Image courtesy Book Marks.

New Materials Monday: More Social Justice Titles!

Posted by on May 13, 2019 No comments

Thanks to a donation from our dedicated Social Justice & Diversity Room intern, Shaela Phillips (’21), there are several new titles in our free lending collection, including the 2018 Summer Reading Program book, Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me, and Illinois Wesleyan alum Charlene Carruthers’ Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements.

Just a refresher that the Social Justice & Diversity Room books are not a part of the library’s circulating collection and circulate in the manner of a Little Free Library: take a book, leave a book, pass a book along to a friend.

Thanks for supplying all of this great new reading material, Shaela!

New Materials Monday: Donations from IWU Peace Fellows with Grant from Peace First

Posted by on March 25, 2019 No comments

For this week’s New Materials Monday, we have 23 fiction and non-fiction books donated by Illinois Wesleyan’s Peace Fellows with a grant from the Peace First organization.

The books are not part of The Ames Library’s formal collection, but will circulate through our Social Justice and Diversity Room, located on the south side of the main floor. The book collection in the room works like a Little Free Library. You can take a book to borrow and after you’re finished, you can bring it back or pass it along to another reader. We also encourage you to donate books on the topic of social justice that you think might be good additions to the room.

Come by any time to browse the collection and snag a book or two!

New Artwork in the Library

Posted by on March 6, 2019 No comments

One of the distinguishing features of The Ames Library is our expansive and ever-growing collection of artwork, which includes everything from Rembrandt etchings to art from graduating Wesleyan seniors. We are delighted to add ten prints from cartoonist Keith Knight to this collection.

You might remember Keith from his visit to campus in October 2018, during which he spoke about race and racism in the United States.

You can see the new prints, which feature quotes on race and social justice from figures like Nelson Mandela and Grace Lee Boggs, on the east side of the main floor.