LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Libraries across central Arkansas are seeing more people in search of materials on social justice.
“Over the last couple of weeks, some of the top ten requested items that we’ve seen have actually been dealing with African-American history,” Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) spokesperson Tameka Lee said.
Lee said an uptick in readers looking to further their education is always exciting.
“We love the fact that people are utilizing our resources and that they’re interested, and they want to learn more because learning is one of the first steps that people can take,” Lee said.
The library has lists of anti-racism books for kids, teens, and adults.
- Social Justice: https://cals.bibliocommons.com/list/share/512546057/1652668949
- Anti-Racism Reading List for Kids: https://cals.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1622148370/1651850289
- Anti-Racism Reading List for Teens: https://cals.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1622148370/1651850019
- An Anti-Racism Primer -- A collection of essential books and documentaries to jumpstart white readers' self-education on how to be anti-racists: https://cals.bibliocommons.com/list/share/1622148370/1648687239
There are also several films on social justice that card holders can watch.
“If anyone is interested in searching our catalog, they can go to the website, so CALS.org, and you can actually look through lists about specific topics,” Lee said.
People can also put in a request to get book recommendations directly from a librarian.
Lee said the libraries are filled with tons of resources.
“That can be books, it can be movies, it can be going back and searching through newspaper articles. We have a lot of information about genealogy," Lee said. "The Encyclopedia of Arkansas has even articles about Interstate 630, which is another one of those things that was a popular search topic during some of the protests.”
Some popular titles last week were ‘Me and White Supremacy’ and ‘So You Want to Talk About Race?’
Several CALS branches have reopened and the online library is always available.