February is Black History Month, and we wanted to share this event with you since it is a great addition to the existing festivities! From February 1st – 28th, participate in the African-American Read In.  The goal of the African-American Read In is to “document readers making the celebration of African American literacy a traditional part of Black History Month activities.”

The celebration encourages places like schools, churches, libraries, professional organizations and citizens to get involved in making literacy “a significant part of Black History Month by hosting and coordinating community Read-Ins.”

To help you plan your event, check out these resources from Read Write Think.org that include links to classroom activities, a Library of Congress exhibit, and a host report card for you to record what happened at your own event.

Also visit NCTE’s site, which has this toolkit to help you prepare for your read in event. The toolkit has links to multiple booklists to help you with reading material selection.

Plus, on Tues. February 20th, CMLE will host our own African-American Read In at our headquarters location! Join us (and Office Dog Lady Grey) to celebrate African-American literature. We’ll have library books available to read and some light refreshments. Stay tuned for more information as the date approaches!