Ahead of the holiday season, Saint Heron founder Solange announced the launch of a free library of rare and valuable books by dope Black creators.
The Saint Heron Community Library is described on the website as a media center dedicated to students, practicing artists and designers, musicians and general literature enthusiasts.
“We believe our community is deserving of access to the stylistically expansive range of Black and Brown voices in poetry, visual art, critical thought and design,” the statement reads.”The library’s focus is education, knowledge production, creative inspiration and skill development through works by artists, designers, historians, and activists from around the world. “
The collections, which are curated by guests, are offered seasonally, and all of the literary works can be borrowed for up to 45 days. The books include “rare, author-inscribed and out-of-print literary works.”
At present, the collection is only available to those in the U.S.
The Saint Heron Community Library’s first season was curated by Rosa Duffy, founder of Atlanta’s For Keeps Bookstore and features 50 art anthologies, poem collections, zines, novels and history books. Duffy’s bookstore has attracted some hugely respected names in the Black community, including Kathleen Cleaver, Tayari Jones and Ta-Nahesi Coates.
Some of the titles include “A Daughter’s Geography,” by Ntozake Shange, Fred Wilson’s “Black Like Me,” and Ruby Dee’s “My One Good Nerve.”
“This is the stuff that people were writing for us since the very beginning to help us get through day-to-day life, to help us get through times that we’re facing right now,” Duffy said per Refinery29. “They did this for us, and the reason that they’re such popular names is because they had such a strong voice. So that’s what I wanted to cover. It varies day to day. There’s so much. We are like a goldmine.”
