Los Angeles Library Program Will Introduce Youthful Readers to the Black Experience

In an effort to introduce children to authors, historical events and people who represent the black experience in America, the Los Angeles Public Library has produced a new series of book lists titled “Young and Black: The Black Experience in Children’s Books.”

The culmination of nine months of work by a team of librarians from the Children’s Services Office and branch libraries, the seven lists include more than 150 titles including picture books, Afro-American folklore, biographies of notable black Americans and stories on the struggles of black Americans to obtain freedom from slavery and for civil rights.

The lists come in a folder featuring block print artwork by children in the Gallery of Children’s Art, an outreach of the Watts Towers Art Center.

The lists will be used by children’s libraries to encourage teachers and students to explore books by and about blacks.