Does Your Library Have Its Own Annual Book Lists?

When we think about annual book lists, very often we are thinking about The New York Times best of the year, the NPR Book Concierge, or, of course, Book Riot’s Best of the Year. Sometimes we might see what the New York Public Library has done, as one of the largest and most prominent library systems in the country. But there are public libraries that are really doing the work to bring something new and interesting to their communities, and with that, they’re doing the whole world a big favor!

While we love to see what’s at the top of lists across the board, libraries highlighting very specific communities and types of books for their local communities could spark discourse far beyond their local reach. 

Detroit Public Library African American Booklist I learned about this 50+-year annual publication from a library colleague when she moved from Detroit to Arizona, and now I keep an eye out for it every year. With such a large Black population and a long and storied history of Black literature and culture, Detroit Public Library knows how to connect with its community–both its readers and authors–and how to properly serve a group that doesn’t always see itself represented in the most popular, heavily featured books and booklists. This year’s booklist opens with a few elements highlighting Black romance, including a profile of the magnificent Beverly Jenkins a.k.a. Ms. Bev, a Detroit native and “The Beyoncé of Romance.” The rest of the publication is a catalog of books for all ages, with brief descriptions of the plots. Black authors wrote every book listed. It’s a gorgeous, eye-catching document on my computer, so I know the folks who saw it go out on counters and displays this past February in DPL branches were immediately drawn to it.

Southwest Books of the Year In Tucson, the Pima County Public Library (PCPL) puts out the Southwest Books of the Year (SWBY) every January, highlighting books from the previous year that feature elements of the Southwest United States and Northern Mexico. Fewer than 100 miles from the Mexican border, PCPL serves a unique and diverse community that speaks hundreds of different languages, including English, Spanish, Yaqui, and O’odham. It has a vast history that goes well beyond what we think of as the very white, very fantasized “Wild West.” In recent years, the curators of SWBY have worked to ensure that their featured books explore the dichotomy of life across the Southwest, not just in Southern Arizona but as far East as Texas, across to California, up to Utah, and down into Sonora and the surrounding Mexican states. The books featured range from beautiful photography books to Indigenous cookbooks to hyperlocal historical investigations, and–much like the Detroit publication–are pulled into a beautifully designed booklet that readers can pick up not just in libraries across town, but in bookstores and other places of business.

These are just two examples of what is probably an ongoing effort for libraries to really highlight what they believe in when it comes to their collections and their communities. But let’s talk about what they have in common: these projects started not as vanity projects but as something to serve the community. They’re curated by a small group of library staff who have the patience, skill, and expertise to build a balanced list and explain why we should know about them. They’re well-designed, with the end reader’s ease of use in mind, and they’re also offered in multiple formats (with the glossy, floppy-printed version being the centerpiece, of course). These guides draw the eye, both with their topics and their artistry, and they are the kind of publication libraries can put on display anytime, not just at a specific time of year. Both of these now have heavy followings, with people anticipating their release and acting accordingly, including regional bookstores and other organizations. And they’re well-loved by their communities, to the point that they’re both cornerstones of their libraries’ outreach. 

This is the shoulder-tap you need: if you’ve been thinking about putting together a niche publication for your library that really focuses on who your community is and what they might find interesting, now is the time to get the ball rolling, paperwork and all. You won’t regret it. You’ll maybe be exhausted and frazzled until the thing goes to print, but you won’t regret it. Maybe your publication will inspire another community to try their hand at it–a group of Black library staff at PCPL used the DPL list as an inspiration to create their own Black booklist.

What are you waiting for?