NEW YORK, NY.- The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has published a special book list of Black-authored books from the past 100 years. 100 Black Voices: Schomburg Centennial Reading List was led by the Center’s reference division and features recommendations from some of the leading voices in Black history, literature, scholarship, and art, as well as the Schomburg Center’s extended library community.

The 100 titles on the list are now available at The New York Public Library’s circulating and research branches. In addition, to ensure patrons can enjoy the books as soon as possible, NYPL is offering instant e-book and audiobook access to a selection of the most highly recommended titles, as well as book giveaways at select locations.

“Not only were we able to engage brilliant minds about their favorite books, but we also received thoughtful and unexpected choices to encourage our patrons to read, discover, and explore,” said Maira Liriano, the Schomburg Center’s Associate Chief Librarian of the Research and Reference Division. “The list is a continuation of our legacy of literacy in encouraging the exploration and access to Black literature, and highlights the many riches in our vast research collections."

Recommendations for the book list were supplied by literary and cultural luminaries, such as Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Glenn Ligon, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Jelani Cobb, Imani Perry, James McBride, Mateo Askaripour, Alison Stewart, Leonard Greene, Isabel Wilkerson, Herb Boyd, Darryl Pinckney, Raven Leilani, Bryan Stevenson, Arturo Schomburg's great-granddaughter Aysha E. Schomburg, Schomburg Center director Joy L. Bivins, and many more.

More than 70 recommenders across the disciplines of music, media, art, literature, and scholarship were asked to submit titles of books that have shaped their practice. With 400 titles submitted, the works of Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and James Baldwin—all important authors with ties to the Center–received the most recommendations.

The book list features iconic works from writers of the Harlem Renaissance such as The New Negro (Alain Locke), Plum Bun (Jessie Redmon Fauset), and The Mis-Education of the Negro (Carter G. Woodson). 100 Black Voices also includes classics in Black literature, including Sula (Toni Morrison) and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou) as well as more recent bestsellers such as Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates), Homegoing (Yaa Gyasi), and James (Percival Everett). This list offers some unexpected choices curated by a selection committee in the interest of promoting other works by well-known authors and to spark curiosity and conversation.

The book list not only honors the Center’s 100th anniversary, but its release also comes nearly 100 years after Carter G. Woodson, the historian, author, and journalist, initiated “Black History Week,” which would evolve into Black History Month. The Schomburg Center, a research center of The New York Public Library located in the heart of Harlem (515 Malcolm X Blvd), is one of the oldest and largest public libraries focused on Black history in the nation.


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