Loyalist library puts up Black History Month display

By Julia Lennips

BELLEVILLE – The Parrott Centre Library at Loyalist College is showcasing different books to celebrate Black History Month.

Some of the titles being showcased include The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, JR., Emancipation Day by Natasha L. Henry, Black Broadway by Stewart F. Lane, 12 Years a Slave by Soloman Northrup and Malcolm X by Manning Marable.

Jennifer Dupuis, the reference and collection development specialist, said the displays are put together by a number of people including herself. The weekend technician and work study students in the library also help out.

“We try and mark as many occasions as we can with displays, so we do Black History month every year, Aboriginal History month, Remembrance Day and all of those kinds of really important celebrations so we can show different parts of the collection that maybe our students wouldn’t see just through their academic work,” Dupuis said.

Regina Edmondson quote on the importance of Black History.

Black History month started in the United States as a week-long celebration. The idea behind it was to encourage schools to teach history of black Americans because previously none of that history had been taught.

“It was a pretty big part of the history of the country so that to me sums up the importance and the meaning. We should be covering all of the history of a country of people not just some parts of it,” Dupuis said.

Every year the library tries to mix up the selection. They try to have a variety of genres in the display like non-fiction/history, fiction, poetry and children’s books.

“Throughout the year we’re always adding new stuff so we try and keep track of what we’ve added. Then when an event comes up like Black History month we look for what is new so we can pull those books off the shelves and display them,” Dupuis said.

It is hard to tell if students are looking at the display but Dupuis said she will often find empty spots.

“It’s like serendipity where you walk by and it’s like that’s really neat. I didn’t know we had that, and you pick it up,” she said.

Viola Desmond’s Canada by Graham Reynolds is a biography that was a part of the display. Dupuis recommended the book because it looks at the history of segregation and race relations in Canada.

“When we think about segregation we think about the southern United States and we forget that that was a reality here in Canada. It’s a really wonderful read and a really interesting part of our history that a lot of people don’t know about,” she said.