Works of Fiction on Black Children and Libraries

Looking for books about libraries featuring children and teens as the central characters? Please consider checking out some of the titles below:

Abrams, Stacey. Stacey’s Remarkable Books. Illustrated by Kitt Thomas, First edition, Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2022.

Best, Cari. Red Light, Green Light, Mama and Me. Illustrated by Niki Daly, Orchard Books, 1995.

Blue, Rose. A Quiet Place. Illustrated by Tom Feelings, Franklin Watts, Inc., 1969.

Blue, Rose, and Corinne J. Naden. Ron’s Big Mission. Illustrated by Don Tate, First edition, Dutton Childrens Books, 2009.

Bryon, Nathan. Rocket Says Speak Up! Illustrated by Dapo Adeola, First American edition, Random House, 2023.

Cline-Ransome, Lesa. Finding Langston. Holiday House, 2018.

Davis, Nadvia. Davis Practices Reading with Risks. Illustrated by George Franco, First edition, Nadvia Davis, 2019.

Elbee, Viviane. I Want My Book Back. Illustrated by Nicole Miles, Little Bee Books, 2022.

Freeman, Rodney E. Little Rodney the Librarian. Illustrated by Eduardo Paj, Preservation Media LLC, 2022.

Giovanni, Nikki. A Library. Illustrated by Erin Robinson, First edition, Versify, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2022.

Horn, Alvin L. A. Places to Be: A Young Adult Novel. Romantic Blues Publishing, 2022.

Ikegwuonu, Chukwujekwu, and Tiffany Ikegwuonu. Chukwu Gets a Library Card. [publisher not identified], 2022.

Johnson, Angela. Lottie Paris and the Best Place. Illustrated by Scott M. Fischer, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2013.

Joosse, Barbara M. Hot City. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, Philomel Books, 2004.

Magoon, Kekla. The Secret Library. Illustrated by Bea Jackson, First edition, Candlewick Press, 2024.

Malaspina, Ann. Finding Lincoln. Illustrated by Colin Bootman, Albert Whitman, 2009.ln

McKissack, Pat. Goin’ Someplace Special. Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, 1st ed, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001.

McQuinn, Anna. Lola at the Library. Illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw, First U.S. edition, Charlesbridge, 2006.

McQuinn, Anna. Lola at the Library with Mommy. Illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw, Board book edition, Charlesbridge, 2020.

McQuinn, Anna. Lola Loves Stories. Illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw, 1st U.S. ed, Charlesbridge, 2009.

Miedoso, Andres. Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol. 05: The Scary Library Shusher. Illustrated by Victor Rivas, First Little Simon hardcover edition, Little Simon, 2018.

Miller, William. Richard Wright and the Library Card. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, First edition, Lee & Low Books, Inc., 1997.

Muhammad, Patrick S. Little Librarian Girl. Illustrated by Jeremy Hughes, Rathsi Publishing, 2008.

Noel, Melvina. Mama’s Library Summers. Illustrated by Daria Peoples, Cameron Kids, an imprint of Abrams, 2024.

Ramsey, Calvin A. The Library in the Woods. Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, Carolrhoda Books, 2025.

Reynolds, Jason. There Was a Party for Langston. Illustrated by Jerome Pumphrey and Jarrett Pumphrey, First edition, Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2023.

Rose, Tiffany. Dear Reader: A Love Letter to Libraries. First edition, Little Bee Books, 2022.

Tyner, Artika R. Kojo Goes to the Library. Illustrated by Bilal Karaca, First edition, Planting People Growing Justice Press, 2025.

Wallace, Gwendolyn. The Light She Feels Inside. Illustrated by Olivia Duchess, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, an imprint of Sourcebooks Kids, 2023.

Educators and Libraries: Isaac Fisher (1877-1957)

Isaac Fisher (1877-1957), a native of East Carroll Parish, Louisiana and the son of former slaves, was the valedictorian of Tuskegee Institute's (Tuskegee University) graduating class of 1898. Fisher was also the first African American to receive a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was awarded the fellowship in 1926.

In addition to being a Guggenheim Fellow, Fisher was an educator, speaker, writer, editor, and conference organizer. He was often called upon to deliver speeches and keynote addresses at graduations, programs, conventions, and other events. Some of Fisher's speeches include:

• "Will America Absorb the Negro?" -- Delivered in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1893 to raise money for the train fare he needed to travel to Tuskegee, Alabama to attend Tuskegee Institute (Tuskegee University).
•  "Has the Negro Kept Faith?" -- Delivered at the 1910 centennial celebration of the life of abolitionist Theodore Parker.
• "The Unfinished Task." Delivered in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1934 at Crispus Attucks High School.

Fisher served as editor of The Southern Workman (published by Hampton Institute (now Hampton University)), The Fisk University News (published by Fisk University), and The Negro Farmer (published by Tuskegee Institute). In addition, Fisher once served as Tuskegee Institute's official news correspondent and had the honor of interviewing George Washington Carver (ca. 1864?-1943), a professor of agriculture at the institute and the 1923 winner of the Spingarn Medal.

As an educator, Fisher taught at the Schofield School in Aiken, South Carolina; served as principal of the Swayne Public School in Montgomery, Alabama; was principal of the Branch Normal College (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) in Pine Bluff, Arkansas; taught journalism and argumentation (debate) at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee; and headed the Department of Research and Publications at Florida A & M College (Florida A & M University) in Tallahassee, Florida.

His connection with libraries:

• While a student at Tuskegee Institute, Isaac Fisher built his own private library with the assistance of Margaret Murray Washington (1865-1925) the wife of Tuskegee Institute founder Booker T. Washington (1856-1915).

• In 1904, seeking to improve access to books and other information sources for students at Branch Normal College, Isaac Fisher made a request to Andrew Carnegie for funds to build a library for the college. However, Fisher's request was denied.  The reason given: "not a good business investment to give a library to a school which constructed only three buildings -- a classroom building, a girls' dormitory, and an industrial shop -- in twenty-nine years" (from page 1 of the Wednesday, June 6, 1906 issue of the Pine Bluff Daily Graphic, a local newspaper).

• On Friday, June 1, 1934, Isaac Fisher gave his speech "The Unfinished Task" at the graduation ceremony for Crispus Attucks High School, a high school for African Americans in Indianapolis, Indiana (the school is now integrated).  Housed inside the high school was the Crispus Attucks Branch of the Indianapolis Public Library, one of three library branches located in predominately African American neighborhoods in Indianapolis. The Crispus Attucks Branch Library was in operation from 1927-1959.

Fisher passed away on Friday, August 23, 1957 in Minnesota.

Sources: "200 Attucks Graduates in Commencement Exercises ; Prof. Isaac Fisher Speaks." Indianapolis Recorder (Indianapolis, Ind.) 2 June 1934: 1, 3. Print. ; "Attucks Class Gets Diplomas: Need of Providing for Material Things Stressed by Virginian." Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Ind.) 2 June 1934: 12. Print. ; "Branch Normal: Closing Exercises of State Colored School One of Greatest Successes in History of the Institution --- The Great Work Accomplished by Principal Isaac Fisher." Pine Bluff Daily Graphic (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 6 June 1906: 1. Print. ; "Isaac Fisher Again Winner: Colored Man Awarded Prize in Magazine Contest : Nine Thousand Competed." Indianapolis Recorder (Indianapolis, Ind.) 19 Sept. 1914: 1, 4. Print. ; "Mr. Fisher Wins Again" The Advocate (Charleston, W. Va.) 24 Feb. 1910: 3. Print. ; "Changes Made at Hampton." The Pittsburgh Courier (Pittsburgh, Pa.) 7 July 1934: 11. Print. ; "Hamptonians in N.Y. Hear Isaac Fisher on Gen. Armstrong: Founder's Day Program Draws Large Audience in Harlem." New York Age (New York, N.Y.) 2 Feb. 1935: 2. Print. ; "Hampton Commencement." New York Age (New York, N.Y.) 7 June 1917: 7. Print. ; "Moton Sketches Progress of Negroes on Ever of Tuskegee Anniversary." The Montgomery Advertiser (Montgomery, Ala.) 12 Apr. 1931: 10. Print. ; "Fisher Hits 'Making the News'; Press Friendly, Cooperative When Program is Genuine." Indianapolis Recorder (Indianapolis, Ind.) 21 Aug. 1937: 13. Print. ; "Fisher Writes Moving Picture Drama." Indianapolis Recorder (Indianapolis, Ind.) 16 Oct. 1915: 4. Print. "Commencement Programs Announced by Manual, Broad Ripple, and Attucks." Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Ind.) 29 May 1934: 6. Print. ; Wheeler, Elizabeth L. "Isaac Fisher: The Frustrations of a Negro Educator at Branch Normal College, 1902-1911." The Arkansas Historical Quarterly 41.1 (Spring 1982): 3-50. Print.