Roosevelt residents assembled at the Roosevelt Public Library on Feb. 21 for its annual Black History Month read-in. Despite attendance being lower than usual due to the impending blizzard that occurred the following days across Long Island, the event served as a great effort to recognize Black literary contributions.
The event’s lead organizer, Roosevelt Public Library’s Black Heritage Librarian Carol Gilliam, described the read-in as a constructive, social and free event that puts Black literature in the spotlight. The Roosevelt Public Library’s Black Heritage collection, which Gilliam boasts is the third largest across the state of New York, provides ample resources to reflect on the works of African American, Caribbean, African and other members of the Black Diaspora.
“This year I chose Langston Hughes to talk about,” Gilliam explained. “One of the reasons I chose him is because not only do I like his work as a poet, but when I started my library career, I started in Harlem. I was actually trained under the New York Public Library, and that was one of the libraries where Langston Hughes wrote his poetry during the Harlem Renaissance.
The annual Black History Month read-in has been occurring for at least ten years, according to Gilliam, and this year a special guest in Nassau County Legislature Alternate Deputy Minority Leader Debra Mulé.
“In every quest for justice and equality, the power of the pen and the written word are indispensable vessels for change, progress and celebrating a community’s unique and beautiful identity,” Mulé said after the event. “That is why it is wonderful to see events like the Roosevelt Library’s Black History Month read-in succeed, and I thank Carol (Gilliam) for her efforts in bringing this enlightening gathering together each year.”
Gilliam wants to encourage local residents to explore the available literature that the Roosevelt Public Library has to offer.
“We have it all here at the library, and a lot of people who live in this community, unfortunately, have never been in this library,” Gilliam said. “People say libraries are becoming extinct, but they aren’t, because we have audio books and we have all different forms of ways that you can do research on Black literature.”
