COTR Museia

The Freedom Libraries

June 18, 2025 | 6:30-8:30 pm | College of the Rockies Lecture Theatre

Libraries are in the crossfire yet again, as conservative groups mount a historic number of challenges to books to remove from public book shelves literature dealing with race, racism and LGBTQ identity. The book-ban campaigns have turned so nasty that some librarians have lost or left their jobs. But it’s not the first time library workers have faced anger, as evidenced by the embattled librarian-activists who ran “freedom libraries” during the Freedom Summer of 1964. Mike will present his award-winning research about time when not books—but people were banned from libraries.

About the Presenter

Mike Selby is an award-winning author, civil-rights journalist, and professional librarian. He has been guest of honor at numerous Black Lives Matter celebrations; guest lecturer at universities across North America and South Africa, and has been interviewed by NPR and the Washington Post. His book Freedom Libraries: The Untold Story of Libraries for African Americans in the South won the Outstanding Academic Text of the Year (2020) from the Association of College and Research Libraries.

More recently he was chief consultant on the film, Are You A Librarian, which will be shown in U.S. theatres this June. He is currently the Deputy Director of the Cranbrook Public Library.