I've been a library geek for longer than I can remember. My mom tells how at the age of 3 or 4 she would take me to the library and I would sit quietly, listening raptly to stories read by the children's librarian.
I remember the library at my Elementary school where we could check out 2 books at a time. My favorite series was biographies of American women. I read about Dolley Madison, Harriet Tubman, Annie Oakley, Helen Keller, Eleanor Roosevelt, others. There must have been men subjects, but they didn't interest 9 year old me.
At about 10 I was old enough to ride my bike alone to the local public library and it was one of my favorite outings. In the summer I'd sign up for the summer reading program. When I'd finished a book I'd ride over and add that title to my list, which I seem to remember the librarians kept at their desk. I have a feeling somewhere in my "family treasures" box there's a certificate or two congratulating me on the number of books I read.
When my grades in high school were not the A's and B's expected of me, my parents removed all the books in my room. They thought that's what kept me from making good grades. That wasn't it. I kept reading what I wanted, I just said it was for school.
After college, when deciding what I'd do with my life, I looked over at my husband and realized he got to play for a living (he's a musician). Wanting to play at one of my favorite places, I attended library school, became a reference librarian, and worked in college and research libraries for 20 years.
Courtyard between the old and new buildings at the BPL.
This was my first library job.
This year I embarked on a new summer reading program.
George Floyd's death made me want to educate myself about racism and the Black/African-American experience. I set out to read memoirs, essays, scholarly texts. Honestly I don't think I've read this many books with footnotes since college. It was easy to find reading lists. Not as easy to read the books. My daughter made quite a few helpful suggestions. Summer is over. Unlike when I was in school, I won't get a certificate or even a pat on the back for this summer reading program. In fact, sharing this endeavor has made a few of my white friends very uncomfortable. Oh well. I read for me and I'm glad I did. I learned a lot, not the least being there's a lot more to learn.
Here's what I read, in the order I read them. I highly recommend every one of these books, tho maybe it's no surprise, the ones I connected with the strongest were written by women.
Coates, Ta-Nihisi. Between the World and Me. NY: Spiegel & Grau, 2015.
Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. NY: One World, 2019.
Eddo-Lodge, Reni. Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race. London: Bloomsbury Circus, 2017.
Mitchell, Jerry. Race Against Time: A Reporter Reopens the Unsolved Murder Cases of the Civil Rights Era. NY: Simon & Schuster, 2020.
DiAngelo, Robin J. White Fragility. Boston: Beacon Press, 2018.
Fleming, Crystal Marie. How to be Less Stupid About Race. Boston: Beacon Press, 2018.
Glaude, Eddie S., Jr. Democracy in Black. NY: Crown Publishers, 2016.
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