Created by interdisciplinary artist and literary scholar OlaRonke Akinmowo, The Free Black Women’s Library is a social art project that features a collection of over 5000 books written by Black women & Black non-binary writers, a free store, a period pantry, a backyard garden, a virtual Reading Club, a weekly book swap, and a wide array of free public programs. It is a literary hub, social site, Black Feminist archive, and community care space located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. All races, ages, and genders are welcome to read, write, work, rest, day dream, and learn in this space. Follow the library @thefreeblackwomenslibrary to stay connected. - Official Website
Black, Brilliant and Free is an interactive installation by The Free Black Women's Library founder OlaRonke Akinmowo, in collaboration with Barnard Library and Barnard student group B.O.S.S., to honor of Barnard's Zora Neale Hurston Centennial. In January 2025 semester, Barnard Library and Ola officially unveiled Black, Brilliant and Free, which featured a beautiful bookshelf altar tribute to Hurston, a reading nook, and an audiovisual display of her ethnographic films.
An Ode to Zora in Three Parts is the programming component of the Black, Brilliant, and Free initiative held throughout the Spring 2025 semester at Barnard Library in collaboration with The Free Black Women's Library and B.O.S.S. Programs included collage and zine workshops and a critical conversation on the theme of finding freedom through autoethnography, using her memoir Dust Tracks On a Road as model/template.
The installation was extended through December 2025 and an additional writing workshop will be offered during the Fall 2025 semester.