The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) thanks the Global Literature in Libraries Initiative for the opportunity to showcase titles that celebrate Blackness. It’s important to promote literature about Black people and written by Black people all year long. BCALA serves as an advocate for the development, promotion, and improvement of library services and resources to the United States’ African American community.

Starting with some Children’s Titles:

Checkout our collaboration with Netflix, Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices: A Discussion on Race, Identity and Social Justice in Children’s Literature. The hour-long live panel and Q&A, is intended to continue amplifying important conversations on identity, race and social justice that Netflix’s Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices has built on for young kids.

Next some Young Adult tiles:

Adult Titles:

E-Titles:

The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) along with Biblioboard, honor the best self-published EBooks in fiction and poetry by an African American author in the U.S. 

In an effort to amplify black voices, we encourage you to add these books to your collections, invite the authors to be a speaker at your next program, purchase a book for yourself or as a  gift for a friend, and share the information about the authors/titles and the Black Caucus of the American Library Association with your networks. https://www.bcala.org/

Shauntee Burns-Simpson (MLIS) currently serves as the 2020-2022 President of BCALA. She is the Associate Director of School Outreach for The New York Public Library. An ambassador for libraries and Youth Librarian, President Burns-Simpson enjoys connecting people to the public library and its resources. She works closely with at-risk teens and fosters a love of reading & learning with her innovative programs. In addition to leading BCALA, she chairs the American Library Association Office of Diversity, Literacy, & Outreach Services (ODLOS) Committee on Diversity.