The Black Heritage Collection of the Roosevelt Public library houses a comprehensive reference and circulating collection of print and non-print materials written about and related to Black Culture. It is a wide range that covers all facets of black life for adults and young adults on the history and culture of Africans, African Americans and Caribbean Americans.

    Other materials examine, describe or depict the experiences of black people including art, literature, music, sports and politics.

    Unique to the collection  is a large number of children’s books (biographies, fiction, non-fiction, and reference) housed in the Children’s Room.

    Our 18,000 volume collection continues to grow, containing recreational reading, as well as study and resources. The collection is used by students at all levels of education, parents, teachers, as well as the casual browser.

    For further information about the collection and our events, contact Carol Gilliam, Black Heritage Librarian cgilliam@rooseveltlibrary.org.

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           BLACK  HERITAGE COLLECTION

                        Author of the Month
                             November 2009

                                     Zora Neale Hurston

   During the Harlem Renaissance rose a prominent figure in American folklore. Ms. Zora Neale Hurston wrote four novels and more than 50 published short stories, plays and essays. A profound anthropologist, many of Zora Neale Hurston novels made use of African American dialect used in the Deep South. Such dialects would present a challenge to the reader, but continue to read through the text and you shall be rewarded with outstanding writing and prose. The Black Heritage Collection is very happy to have Ms. Zora Neale Hurston for the month of November. Don’t forget to let us know what you think about the readings!

Suggested titles: Their Eyes Were Watching God, Jonah’s Gourd Vine, Mules and Men, Spunk: Selected Stories and numerous plays and essays. For a backround of Ms. Hurston start with Alice Walker’s article, “In Search of Zora Neale Hurston”, for Ms. Magazine.