The History of Black Reading Spaces | Library-ish Podcast
Long before equal access to public libraries existed, Black communities created their own reading spaces—often in secret, often with great risk, and always with purpose.
In this Black History Month episode of Library-ish, we explore the history of Black reading spaces and the powerful role reading has played in community, resistance, and survival. From literacy during enslavement to churches, homes, barbershops, salons, and Historically Black Colleges and Universities, we look at how reading spaces were created when access to books and libraries was denied.
We want to be clear: we are not historians or subject-matter experts. We are librarians who believe deeply in access to information. This episode is meant to educate, to share what we’ve learned, and to help guide listeners toward trusted resources if they want to continue learning.
This conversation is not exhaustive—it’s an invitation.
📚 Resources mentioned in this episode include:
* National Museum of African American History and Culture
* The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
* Library of Congress African American history collections
* HBCU libraries and archives
* Your local public library
## 📚 Sources used & Further Reading
* Advertising Week. *Black Barbershops and Salons: The Custodians of Culture.*
(https://advertisingweek.com/black-barbershops-and-salons-the-custodians-of-culture/)
* African American Intellectual History Society (AAIHS). *Rethinking Early Slave Literacy.*
[https://www.aaihs.org/rethinking-early-slave-literacy/](https://www.aaihs.org/rethinking-early-slave-literacy/)
* Duke University Libraries. *Slave Letters Collection Guide.*
(https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/guides/slaveletters)
* Duke University Press. *Forgotten Readers.*
(https://www.dukeupress.edu/Forgotten-Readers)
* JSTOR Daily. *Freedom Libraries and the Fight for Library Equity.*
(https://daily.jstor.org/freedom-libraries-and-the-fight-for-library-equity/)
* Library of Congress (Teaching with Primary Sources). *Education in Enslaved Communities.* (Aug. 2022)
(https://blogs.loc.gov/teachers/2022/08/education-in-enslaved-communities/)
* National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).
[https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6934089/](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6934089/)
* Oakland Literacy Coalition. *Literacy by Any Means Necessary: The History of Anti-Literacy Laws in the U.S.*
(https://oaklandliteracycoalition.org/literacy-by-any-means-necessary-the-history-of-anti-literacy-laws-in-the-u-s/)
* Picturing Black History. *Learning in Secret Places.*
(https://picturingblackhistory.org/learning-in-secret-places/)
* Princeton University (Steven A. Knowlton). *Rapidly Escalating Demand…* (PDF)
(https://steven-knowlton.scholar.princeton.edu/sites/g/files/toruqf3746/files/steven.a.knowlton/files/rapidlyescalatingdemand.pdf)
* Public Discourse. *Article 84434.* (2022)
(https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2022/09/84434/)
* Reading Partners. *Literacy: Path to Freedom and the Cost of Illiteracy.*
(https://readingpartners.org/blog/literacy-path-to-freedom-illiteracy/)
* Wikipedia. *Anti-Literacy Laws in the United States.*
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-literacy_laws_in_the_United_States)
* Wikipedia. *Third Place.*
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_place)
If you’d like help finding books, primary sources, or databases on this topic, your library is a great place to start.
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