Books Of My People East Side Branch Library Offers Collection Of African-American Books

When Chey Stanley-Bryant grew up in Texas, she didn’t have access to many books on her African-American heritage.

The library didn’t carry them.

“I’m playing catch-up now,” said Stanley-Bryant, browsing a book at Spokane’s East Side Branch Library.

Spokane native Jennifer Roseman said she had the same problem. There were so few books about black people in the Spokane library that Roseman started buying her own.

“You’d hear about books, but you wouldn’t be able to find them,” Roseman said. So she ordered them by mail.

Today, Spokane readers don’t have to go to such extremes.

Thanks to an organization of about 20 African-American women, the East Side library has set aside a collection of 600 or more books by black authors or about black people.

The African-American Collection is the only distinct ethnic collection in the city library system, and it reflects a close relationship between the branch library and the people who live nearby.

The East Central area long has been considered the home of Spokane’s black community. The new branch library, which opened 16 months ago, has become an important resource for the neighborhood.

Members of the black community said they have built a strong liaison with the library staff.

“People feel like they have ownership of the library here,” said branch manager Claire Steigleder.

Stanley-Bryant, who lives on the lower South Hill, is a regular user of the African-American Collection. She said she is drawn to the branch not only for the special collection but because of the atmosphere.

“The staff is so nice and helpful,” she said.

As a member of the Onyx Theatre Troupe in Spokane, Stanley-Bryant uses the African-American Collection to review the works of black playwrights.

During a visit last week, she was reading volumes that included a book on black women heroes and stage plays.

“We use the library to do the research and get more information on the characters,” Stanley-Bryant said.

The collection was established at the urging of a group known as Links Inc., a service organization of black women who are active in Spokane. One of the group’s goals is to promote education among black youth.

About a year before the new branch opened, Roseman and other members of Links approached library officials and urged them to create the collection. The library staff welcomed the idea.

Roseman is a director on the city library board and also a member of the state Commission on African-American Affairs.

To help establish the collection, Links members donated more than 100 books written by black authors or about black people. The money for the books came from their personal contributions as well as a grant from the national Links organization.

The other volumes were pulled from regular library shelves and restacked on the south wall of the East Side branch. The library has additional copies of many of the books, and those are mixed into the general collection, mostly downtown.

One book donated by Links is a photo essay by Chester Higgins Jr. titled, “Feeling the Spirit: Searching the World for the People of Africa.”

“It’s not an academic collection,” said Steigleder. “It really does cross the spectrum of various subject areas.”

There is a book that tells the story of the “buffalo soldiers” of the old West. They were given that name by the Indians because their hair resembled a buffalo coat.

Other volumes give advice for black people seeking success in the business and corporate worlds. Still others celebrate the accomplishments of black Americans.

Of course, the pain of slavery and racism is also told in the collection. Steigleder said many of the volumes are poignant in their portrayals of the black experience.

Fannie Bush, current president of the Links group, said the African-American Collection is unique to Spokane. She said she is not aware of any others like it in the region.

“(Black Americans) did have a contribution, and we want that contribution to be known,” said Bush, an elementary school teacher.

Mary Langford, a middle school teacher, said she and her family have used the African-American Collection faithfully.

Langford, who grew up in the South and went to segregated schools, moved to Spokane in 1971.

She is a member of Links as well as Phi Delta Kappa, a teaching sorority of African-American women. The sorority holds its meetings at the branch library.

She echoed Bush’s comments.

“A lot of the kids have no clue about who we are,” Langford said. “We did a lot for the growth of this country.”

For example, few people are aware that black inventors came up with the ironing board, the refrigerator and the traffic stoplight, she said.

The collection is full of wonderful stories, including a book about barnstorming pilot Bessie Coleman, in 1920 the first African-American to fly an airplane.

In a way, the collection mirrors the library as a whole, with works about society, history, business, art, culture and literature.

It is among some 35,000 books, tapes, discs and periodicals held at the East Side branch.

Since the new branch opened in December 1995, circulation has increased 25 to 30 percent.

In any given month, the library branch loans out about 7,400 pieces of material.

Use of the reference section increased by nearly 70 percent when the new branch opened.

The former branch was in the East Central Community Center. The new 6,400-square-foot facility is at the front of the community center campus.

Langford and others said they hope people of all races will take advantage of the African-American Collection because there is something for everyone to learn in it.

“If you think about it,” Langford said, “we are more alike than we are different.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Photos (2 color)

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: COLLECTION OFFERS DIVERSE READING The African-American Collection at the East Side Branch Library is filled with books rich in history and culture. Here is a sample of the hundreds of books available, picked out by branch manager Claire Steigleder to show the diversity of the collection: “Up in the Air: The Story of Bessie Coleman,” by Philip S. Hart. A biography about the first African-American to fly an airplane. “Woman of Color, Daughter of Privilege: Amanda America Dickson, 1849-1893,” by Kent Anderson Leslie. A biography on the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy white Georgian. When he died, he left a fortune to Dickson. “I Dream a World,” by Brian Lanker. A collection of portraits and personal essays by important black women, including Shirley Chisholm, Coretta Scott King and Lena Horne. “The Middle Passage: White Ships, Black Cargo,” by artist Tom Feelings. A collection of drawings depicting the anguish of the slave trade. “Maya Angelou,” by Miles Shapiro. A biography about the life and work of the noted black writer. The book is part of the “Black Americans of Achievement” series of books. “Convicted in the Womb: One Man’s Journey from Prisoner to Peacemaker,” by Carl Upchurch. A story about the author’s conversion from crime to community activism in south Philadelphia. “Success Runs in Our Race,” by George Fraser. Tells how blacks can be successful in business by building alliances with each other. “The Art of John Biggers: View from the Upper Room.” A collection of his paintings and drawings. “Soul in Management: How African-American Managers Thrive in the Competitive Corporate Environment,” by Richard F. America and Bernard E. Anderson. Gives strategies for success in a white-dominated world. “Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott,” by Teresa Celsi. The story of the 1955 civil disobedience that became a seminal event in the Civil Rights movement. “The Black Infantry in the West, 1869 to 1891,” by Arlen L. Fowler. About the foot soldiers of the American West. “Black Fighting Men: A Proud History,” by Catherine Reef. A book about black contributions from the American Revolution through the Gulf War.