Great News! Mike Selby, author of the book Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South that received a review of “highly recommended” in Choice, is publishing a new book. Who We Are: The History of the Cranbrook Public Library unfurls the history of the Cranbrook Public Library in British Columbia, Canada.
Mike has given us in the library history community a sneak peak at the book! Chapter 1 “Love and Theft” is attached below. In the chapter, you’ll see that Mike contextualizes Cranbrook within the broader history of libraries and he notes how racial privilege figured into this history.
Mike’s excerpt is written with the same journalistic flair and engaging storytelling as Freedom Libraries. Enjoy and watch for future updates about the book on the blog!