Please join us for this month's session in our series celebrating the Handbook of Black Librarianship. For our December webinar we will be celebrating Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, a tireless champion of African, African American, Afro-Latino, and Afro-Caribbean cultural and scholarly vibrance. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the New York Public Library Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, we will hear from Dr. Ana Ndumu and Manuel Mendez who collaborated on a Handbook chapter dedicated to Schomburg. The discussion will include an overview of Schomburg’s impact on librarianship and a wider conversation around archives, book collecting, and the importance of documenting and preserving the history of the African Diaspora.

This public program is made possible by federal Library Service and Technology Act funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which enable the New York State Library to champion lifelong learning.  

The Handbook of Black Librarianship was first published in 1977, intended to “provide reference information on the relationship of Afro-Americans to various aspects of librarianship and libraries.” Compiled and edited by E.J. Josey during his time as Chief of the Bureau of Specialist Library Services for the New York State Library, this volume provided resources for developing African/Afro-American collections, program guidance for serving Black youth, directories of library school programs primarily attended by Black students, and essays from Black educators, writers, librarians, and more. A second edition was published in 2000, adding to and updating the first volume. 

A third edition has just been published, edited by Andrew "Sekou” Jackson, Marva L. Deloach, and Michele Fenton. Beyond updating previous volumes, the new edition adds over 70 new essays on Vital Issues, Service to Our Communities, Library Technology, Wisdom from Retirees, Global Issues, and Banned Books and Censorship. In this webinar, you will hear from the editors about their relationship to the Handbook, how this edition came to be, and how you can use it to engage with your library and its community.