A Community Library of Rare Black Books, Courtesy of Solange

Beginning today, Solange is opening the Saint Heron Community Library, a media center dedicated to out-of-print and rare books by Black and Brown voices in poetry, visual art, critical thought, and design. The library features works by Ntozake Shange, Lucille Clifton, Audre Lorde, and more. Patrons can reserve books online and have them shipped anywhere for free within the United States. “That’s what I wanted to focus on; both the classics and the popular stuff,” says Rosa Duffy, curator and founder of For Keeps Books. “This is the stuff that people were writing for us since the very beginning to help us get through day-to-day life, to help us get through times that we’re facing right now. They did this for us, and the reason that they’re such popular names is because they had such a strong voice. So that’s what I wanted to cover. It varies day to day. There’s so much. We are like a goldmine.”