
Join your Library to celebrate Black History Month in February.
Special Programs
Illinois Libraries Present: An Evening with James McBride
Tuesday, 2/4, 7-8 PM
Registration required (virtual)
Illinois Libraries Present James McBride, an award-winning author, musician, and screenwriter. His landmark memoir, The Color of Water, was published in 1996 and is considered an American classic, read in schools and universities across the United States. His 2013 novel, The Good Lord Bird, won the National Book Award for Fiction and was adapted by Ethan Hawke and Jason Blum into a Showtime series bearing the same name. His latest, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, was named one of the New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of 2023.
1619: The Journey of a People
Sunday, 2/16, 1:30-2:30 PM
Celebrate Black History Month with this dynamic theatrical experience featuring playwright, professor, and performer Ted Williams III. On August 20, 1619, twenty enslaved Africans arrived in Jamestown, Virginia. The 400-year journey that followed would change a nation and the world. This one-man show packs generations of history into an hourlong performance that commemorates the struggles, recognizes the heroes, and critically analyzes the American journey towards freedom and equality.
Library Resources
Recommended by our Librarians
Adult Fiction and Nonfiction Titles
Picture Books, Chapter Books, and Nonfiction for Children
Explore our Digital Collections
Celebrating Black History Month - hoopla
Black History Month for Kids - hoopla
Films Celebrating Black History Month - kanopy
Celebrating Black History Month - Libby