Freedom libraries The untold story of libraries for African Americans in the South

The Civil Rights Movement was known as the freedom struggle, and its centers took on this nomenclature as well, particularly freedom houses and freedom schools, which are two of the better-documented elements of the movement. Readers should not be surprised by the addition of freedom libraries to this list, yet it is surprising how little is known of their history. All the more reason to welcome this book exactly on that subject: libraries created and fostered by civil rights activists to provide reading material to African Americans in the South, who often had little access to free public libraries and their resources (needless to say, official city libraries were segregated). This book by Selby, a professional librarian, clearly bears the marks of a passionate personal project, and the author greatly enriches this little-known chapter in the history of the freedom struggle. The text is full of personal stories and testimonies, many of which will be fairly unknown even to scholars in the field. If there's ever a book that all libraries ought to have, it's this book about grassroots libraries organized for people who hungered for the knowledge that would lead to freedom. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels. --Paul Harvey, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs