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Freedom libraries[1] were community libraries set up by activist organizations and private individuals to serve African Americans during the civil rights movement. Many of these libraries were established in the summer of 1964, during a broader project of voter registration and other civil rights activism.[2] The history of freedom libraries was largely unknown until scholar Karen Cook wrote an in-depth dissertation on the topic.[3]

Background

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During the first half of the twentieth century, most African Americans living in the Southern United States lacked access to tax-supported public libraries.[4][5] Due to their support of racial segregation, White Southerners severely restricted or completely blocked African Americans’ use of existing public libraries.[1][4][5] Although Southern public library systems were forced to nominally desegregate their facilities, often as a result of lawsuits filed by African Americans, many still preserved the spirit of segregation.[4]

Establishment

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As part of the civil rights movement, African American activists and their allies challenged many types of racial discrimination, including in public libraries.[1] Public libraries were sometimes the site of sit-ins and other forms of civil disobedience.[4] In the 1960s, supportive organizations and individuals started creating freedom libraries to assist activists with their work and provide local African Americans with the library service previously denied to them by White leaders.[1]

The first freedom libraries were created by the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), a partnership of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Congress of Racial Equity, and the NAACP.[6][7] Freedom libraries were often located in Freedom Schools or Community Centers.[8] Although there were freedom libraries across the country, approximately 50 freedom libraries were created in Mississippi during the summer of 1964.[9][10] That summer was known as Freedom Summer, a time period in which many volunteers came to Mississippi to create Freedom Schools and register African Americans to vote.[2] Freedom Summer volunteers were typically young, primarily a mix of progressive White college students and African Americans already involved in civil rights organizing.[11]

Freedom libraries have also been documented in Alabama, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania.[1] One Alabama library, the Selma Free Library, was preferred by some students of Selma University over that of their own institution.[3]

Freedom libraries carried books "typical" of other American libraries, but also paid special attention to books about African American people or written by Black authors.[10][12] Freedom libraries were as large as 20,000 books, or small mobile libraries and many were created entirely with donated books.[13] These donations were often provided by volunteers from northeastern states.[14] Book donations came from individuals and organizations including teachers, booksellers, and publishers.[15] Freedom libraries were established in spaces including churches and houses.[6] In addition to books, freedom libraries offered other library services, including workshops and children's events, as well as existing as public community spaces.[15]

Challenges

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Freedom libraries faced numerous challenges, including vandalism, fire-bombing, and other acts of terrorism at the hands of White residents and Ku Klux Klan members.[1][10] One bombing took place in October 1964 in Vicksburg, destroying over 9,000 books.[16] Nobody was killed in the Vicksburg bombing, likely because boxes of books bore the brunt of the explosion.[1] Landlords were reluctant to rent properties to freedom libraries because of the frequency of violent incidents.[7]

Although COFO volunteers attended an orientation to learn how to provide library services, most did not have any formal library training.[15][17] Because of volunteers' inexperience, as well as limited funding, some libraries were less successful than others in providing library services.[15] Additionally, a lack of clarity surrounding COFO organizational structure posed challenges for effectively running the libraries.[15]

Impact

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Freedom libraries raised awareness among the broader United States population about the civil rights activism taking place in Mississippi.[15] Karen Cook argues that the civil rights movement benefited from its public association with libraries.[15]

Although most freedom libraries did not remain in existence longer than a few years after their establishment, they had a significant impact on the communities they served.[15] Freedom libraries were the only type of library available to many African Americans in the South, and were the only place they could access books and periodicals outside of local news coverage.[17] Civil rights activist Richard James said that it was important for Black people to know about their own history.[18] For many African Americans, these libraries were the first time they had access to this information.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Selby, Mike (2019). Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
  2. ^ a b "Freedom Summer". SNCC Digital Gateway. Archived from the original on 2023-02-25. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  3. ^ a b Selby, Mike (2013). "Freedom's Reading: The Discovery of Two Alabama Freedom Libraries". The Southeastern Librarian. 61 (3). Archived from the original on 2023-02-19. Retrieved 2023-02-19 – via Digital Commons.
  4. ^ a b c d Battles, David M. (2009). The History of Public Library Access for African Americans in the South: Or, Leaving Behind the Plow. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
  5. ^ a b Hanbury, Dallas (2020). The Development of Southern Public Libraries and the African American Quest for Library Access, 1898-1963. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
  6. ^ a b Jackson, Ashawnta (2022-01-10). "Freedom Libraries and the Fight for Library Equity". JSTOR Daily. Archived from the original on 2022-03-29. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  7. ^ a b "Libraries feel attacked — but not like the 'freedom libraries' of 1964". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2023-02-10.
  8. ^ a b "Local Civil Rights Memories Sought". Choctaw Plaindealer. 2006-09-06. p. 6. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Morrow, Ree (6 April 2022). "Exploring the Legacy of Freedom Libraries During National Library Week". The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Archived from the original on 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  10. ^ a b c Oringderff, Barbara (1966-06-25). "Libraries Not All Quiet; Have Exciting History". Garden City Telegram. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Watson, Bruce (2010). Freedom Summer. United States of America: Penguin Books. pp. 15–16. ISBN 978-0-14-311943-2.
  12. ^ "GCM to Sponsor 'Freedom Library'". Delaware County Daily Times. 1965-08-07. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Kaffer, Nancy (26 November 2006). "A Forgotten Piece of State History". Hattiesburg American. pp. 1A. Retrieved 7 April 2022 – via Newspapers.com. "History". pp. 9A. Archived from the original on 2024-02-14. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  14. ^ Cresswell, Stephen (1996). "The Last Days of Jim Crow in Southern Libraries". Libraries & Culture. 31 (3/4): 567. ISSN 0894-8631. JSTOR 25548457. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-07 – via JSTOR.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h Cook, Karen Joyce (2008). Freedom Libraries in the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project: A History Archived 2023-02-19 at the Wayback Machine. Tuscaloosa, AL. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Communication and Information Sciences in the Graduate School of The University of Alabama.
  16. ^ "New Bombing Hits Rights Unit Center". The Baltimore Sun. 5 October 1964. p. 1. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2022 – via Newspapers.com."Rights Group's House Hit in New Mississippi Blast". p. 3. Archived from the original on 2024-02-14. Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  17. ^ a b Heinze, Frederick W. (1985). "The Freedom Libraries: A Wedge in the Closed Society" (PDF). School Library Journal. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  18. ^ Knesis, Barbara (1965-07-24). "Former Sit-In Stands Up to Aid GMC". Delaware County Daily Times. p. 21. Archived from the original on 2022-04-07. Retrieved 2022-04-07 – via Newspapers.com.


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