{"id":2768,"date":"2019-06-03T08:30:47","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T13:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/?p=2768"},"modified":"2019-05-31T13:59:00","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T18:59:00","slug":"secrets-of-the-librarians-free-black-womens-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/secrets-of-the-librarians-free-black-womens-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Secrets of the Librarians: Free Black Women\u2019s Library"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’re looking for a great new read, Book Marks<\/a> has started a weekly series called Secrets of the Librarians<\/a>. 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.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Says Akinmowo: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have to say that I do not have a master\u2019s degree in Library Sciences or any official training and did not go to school to become a librarian, I started the Free Black Women\u2019s 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\u2019t 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).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Akinmowo recommends readers check out Parable of the Sower<\/em> by Octavia Butler, Sister Outsider <\/em>by Audre Lorde, and The Sun is Also A Star<\/em> 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<\/em> from The Ames Library! We have both a physical copy<\/a> and an e-book<\/a>. There are also several books by black women writers in our free lending Social Justice & Diversity Room collection on the main floor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image courtesy Book Marks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":880,"featured_media":2769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[78,220,223],"class_list":["post-2768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-black-history","tag-social-justice","tag-social-justice-and-diversity-room"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/files\/2019\/05\/OR-books-768x384-e1559328857303.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/880"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2768"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2772,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2768\/revisions\/2772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}