Please note
The Free Black Women’s Library
is closed from 8/1 to 8/15

The Free Black Women’s Library
is a social art project that features a collection of over five thousand books written by Black women and Black non-binary writers, a free store, a period pantry, a virtual Reading Club, a weekly book swap, and a wide array of workshops and free public programs.

We are a literary hub, social site, Black Feminist archive, and community care space in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. All races, ages, and genders to read, write, work, rest, dream, and learn in our space.
All are welcome to attend our art and writing workshops, film screenings, performances, readings, book signings, teach-ins, storytime sessions, and critical conversations. Follow us on Instagram or Eventbrite to see what we have coming up this week!!

Reading Room Address:
226 Marcus Garvey Boulevard
Brooklyn, NYC

Days/Hours
Wednesdays & Thursdays/1-5
Saturdays & Sundays/1 - 6

To support the growth and sustainability of this project join our Patreon community or make a one-time donation to us at givebutter.com/TFBWL.

1988-Nassau-Bahamas-Essence-Writers-Retreat-This-item-is-reproduced-by-permission-of.png

1988 Nassau Bahamas, Essence Writers' Retreat.

Seated (from left) Dr. Julianne Malveaux, Betty Winston Baye, Stephanie Stokes Oliver, Sonia Sanchez, Thulani Davis, Ntozake Shange, Valerie Wilson Wesley, Bebe Moore Campbell. Second row, from left Toni Cade Bambara, Elsie Washington, Barbara Smith, Marlene NorbeSe Philip, Bonnie Allen, Sherley Anne Williams, Cheryll Y. Greene, Ayesha Grice, Phyl Garland, Ivy Young, Elaine Brown. Last row, from left Susan L. Taylor, Lena G. Sherrod, Renita Weems, Jean Wiley, Audrey Edwards, Jill Nelson, Vertamae Grosvenor, Octavia Butler, & Lucille Clifton.

Photo via Octavia E Butler Legacy Network.

Natalie Cole reading, 1975 Photo via Johnson/Ebony Archives

Natalie Cole reading, 1975

Photo via Johnson/Ebony Archives

"Salvation is certainly among the reasons I read. Reading and writing have always pulled me out of the darkest experiences in my life. Stories have given me a place in which to lose myself. They have allowed me to remember. They have allowed me to forget. They have allowed me to imagine different endings and better possible worlds," - Roxane Gay