Solange Debuts Community Library Of Rare, Out-Of-Print Books By Black Authors
Image ID 218479168 © by Hutchinsphoto | Dreamstime.com
Soulful singer Solange Knowles hopes to increase public access to rare and out-of-print books by Black and Brown authors through a new free library initiative.
She launched the project under her creative studio Saint Heron this week, with a starting collection of 50 books.
Readers in the US will be able to borrow each title for a maximum of 45 days, with the books spanning genres such as fiction, poetry, visual arts, and non-fiction. For now, most of the curated copies will be of interest to creatives, musicians, or literary enthusiasts.
“We hope that by encountering these works, our community is inspired to further explore and study the breadth of artistic expression, and the impact of Blackness in creative innovation throughout history,” the site wrote.
Each season, the library’s collection will be updated, most likely by a guest curator. According to CNN, the current stack was chosen by Rosa Duffy, founder of For Keeps Books in Atlanta, which offers exclusive titles by Black authors.
Some of the writers currently featured include Gwendolyn Brooks, Audre Lorde, Ntozake Shange, and Octavia Butler; though the titles may be among the authors’ lesser-known works.
“For this Saint Heron Library collection, it was really focusing on the people that we know and love, but we might not know the details of what they do,” Duffy explained.
“So highlighting these artists, I think that’s really important, because then you get to the different mediums and the different spaces that we can move throughout, that we might not always be affirmed that we can move through.”
Each reader can borrow one book based on a first-come, first-served system. They’ll be able to receive the book via shipping, with the costs of delivery and returns paid for. For more information, head here.
[via CNN, cover image by Hutchinsphoto | Dreamstime.com]
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