The Free Black Women’s Library has arrived in Los Ángeles. They are the L.A. chapter of The Free Black Women’s Library, founded in Brooklyn in 2015 by Ola Ronke Akinmowo. The aim of this library is to provide “a free, feminist pop-up library and book swap with Black women writers at the center,” as their mission states.

In conjunction with their arrival they are “DELIGHTED to announce,” they said on their Facebook page several days ago, “our donation drop boxes have been placed around Los Angeles!” The drop boxes they have set up so far are located at: Junior High Los Angeles, at 5656 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028; Go Get Em Tiger Cafe at 827 E. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013; The Underground Museum (Re-opens 3/31) at 3508 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90018; Hot and Cool Cafe at 4331 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008; and Patria Coffee at 108 Alemeda Street, Compton, CA 90221.

The Free Black Women’s Library works by providing a unique, free, and accessible space for community members of all races, ages, and gender identities to engage & trade books by Black Women authors for one in their library. They practice sustainable methods for gaining knowledge within their community that include community-led workshops, panel discussions and literary events highlighting local, black women writers.

The Free Black Women’s Library L.A. also announced recently that before they officially announce the launch of their pop-up library they’re, “aiming to collect #300blackwomenbooks by June 2019. We have partnered with some awesome community businesses to host our mini-libraries/drop boxes for community members to conveniently place their donations. We welcome and encourage folk who visit these locations to read books in our collection (we’ve stuck at least 1-2 children’s books in each crate!), we only ask you kindly return the books before leaving,” they posted on Facebook.

As The Free Black Women’s Library has done elsewhere, the L.A. chapter hopes to bare witness to the uniqueness, depth and intelligence of Black female voices, that have for too long been ignored and overlooked in the literary world and beyond. And Los Ángeles is home to some of the best Black women writers around, past and present: Wanda Coleman, Octavia E. Butler, Dana Johnson, Pam Ward, Michelle T. Clinton, and Jaha Zainabu just to name a few. They ask you to crack open a book, lean in, and envelop yourself in the voices of Black women’s writers.