The Free Black Women's Library, is an interactive Black Feminist mobile trading library and interactive biblio installation that features a collection of 2000 books written by Black women. The library is committed to centering and celebrating the voices of Black Women in literature. This mobile library pops up monthly in unique and radical spaces throughout Brooklyn, NYC and has also been to Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia and Baltimore. PLEASE EMAIL me directly at thefreeblackwomenslibrary@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments about this project.
Thank you so much to everyone that has donated to The Free Black Women’s Library crowdfunding campaign.
We deeply appreciate all of the contributions and shares.
We raised almost 5k in less than two days!!
Thank you for believing in our dream of creating a loving and comfortable space where book lovers of all ages, races and genders can gather to bask in the brilliance of Black womanhood.
We ask that you please continue to lift up this mission for the entire month of December.
Photo features African American soldiers reading at a base hospital at Camp Logan, Texas 1918, courtesy the American Library Association. ⭐️
@kiyannaloves got two of my faves last Sunday at The Free Black Women’s Library!! Major score, yay!!😍😍
#books #bookstagram #bookswap #goodreads #blackbooks #BlackBookwormsMatter #blackwomanbibliophile #freeblackwomenslibrary 📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚
#Repost @kiyannaloves (@get_repost)
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So excited about these two books I got at @thefreeblackwomenslibrary session today at the Studio Museum in Harlem! There were so many great books and awesome people 📖✨
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Hello and Happy December!! I am nervous and excited to share that yesterday I launched the first crowdfunding campaign for The Free Black Women’s Library.
Thank you so much to those who have donated so far.
I have poured my everything into this project for the past 5 years. The work has felt both necessary and exhausting. It has been on shaky ground the entire time, surviving through the support of my small Patreon family and a tiny team of volunteers. I think it’s time to level up!!!
My dream wish goal, is that it moves into 2021 on a solid sustainable foundation, and with your help I know I can make it happen!!
This dream has three parts!!
1. A storefront or loft space that can house the collection of books (over three thousand and rising) and serve as a reading room, literary hub and community resource.
A space that can be used to read, write, learn, rest and connect with others. It will inclusive and accessible for all body types.
2. A van or small bus that I can convert into an official bookmobile, which can be used to transport the books from place to place, so I no longer have to rely on car services to get the books around. This has been one of the most challenging aspects of this project.
3. A librarian or highly organized person who has a deep love for books and community. This project requires ALOT of labor and I would like to hire someone to manage all of the day to day tasks. I aim to pay this person a living wage with the funds raised via this campaign.
I am asking everyone that follows me on here and enjoys my content to collaborate with me in making these three special dreams come true.
Imagine a space that is comfortable and beautiful, a space that book lovers of every age, race and gender can enjoy. A space where people can come to, to be alone or with others, build community and be inspired by the brilliance and imagination of Black women writers.
We need and deserve this space!!
With your help we can definitely make it happen!! ♥️📚🖤
Please give what you can and feel free to share this post far and wide!! THANK YOU!! ♥️📚🖤♥️📚🖤
#TBT to this sweet and gorgeous day last year when TFBWL was stationed at Brooklyn Tea Shop
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We spent a cozy afternoon, sipping tea, reading, talking, chilling and trading books.
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For years it has been a dream of mine for this project to have its own space, it’s own wheels, and paid support, and now that I have finally launched my first GoFundMe to make it happen. I have become a bit obsessed. 😏
my posting about it may get annoying and repetitive, but I do believe in the possibilities of these things for us in 2021.
A Reading Room, Bookmobile and Librarian, PLEASE DONATE AND SHARE the Gofundme Link
Join The Free Black Women’s Library on Sunday, May 31 for “Shape God, Shape Self” - a very special virtual conversation with writers, scholars, professors and founders of the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network Dr. Ayana Jamieson and Dr. Moya Bailey as we discuss part two of Butler’s iconic and prophetic series PARABLE OF THE TALENTS.
For those of you who were with us last month for part one of this series, were we talked about the lessons and the themes within PARABLE OF THE SOWER you know that conversation was lit 🔥🔥🔥
Thank you so much to Joseph Cuillier and Shani Peters of the Black School for inviting me to be a part of their special project Black Love Fest. I felt so much love and support from folks, it was almost surreal. Gave some books away and sold some cards and buttons too!!
New additions to The Free Black Women’s Library, some seriously excellent gently used award winning best selling reads, both classic and contemporary.
Super Grateful for this awesome bookstack, that was delivered this morning. ♥️👌🏿📚
Last time I counted there were 2500 #books in the library but it’s probably more like 3000 at this point. Our brilliance and creativity is truly infinite.
Flashback to a glorious day spent at MoCADA Museum, trading good books by Black women and meeting up with the brilliant Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom to discuss the concepts and ideas explored in her incredible must read award winning book THICK AND OTHER ESSAYS, a stellar collection of personal essays that cover the complications of Black womanhood from a place of empowerment and critical thought.
THICK is one of my favorite reads, that I often recommend.
This is definitely one of the most amazing gatherings we’ve ever had, a packed house and it was simply amazing to have Dr. Cottom with us in the building, we ending up talking for almost 4 hours.
