Libraries may seem an unlikely place to go in the search for answers after the police shooting of Philando Castile and Black Lives Matter protests in the Twin Cities.
But the Hennepin County Library, the state's largest library system, has responded by launching a Black Lives Matter teen reading list that is now being replicated at libraries across the country. For the first time, one of its reading lists also has been picked up by national publications.
It's part of an effort by public libraries across the country to take action after the troubling events, hoping that the power of books can help educate residents on racial issues and support the community.
"It's in the DNA of a library to do this," Library Director Lois Langer Thompson said. "Reading is part of the healing and helps us understand."
In Ferguson, Mo., the public library stayed open to serve the community even though schools and stores closed after the 2014 protests. Last week in Texas, the Dallas library hosted counselors for the community after five police officers were killed by a gunman.
The Ramsey County Library last winter hosted a three-part history series on civil rights and Black Lives Matter. And after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the Hennepin County Library put together a reading list to help parents find a way to talk to children about that tragedy.
With the recent Black Lives Matter protests over the death of Castile, a black St. Paul man fatally shot by a St. Anthony police officer, the library is reminding residents that its 41 public libraries remain open for people to hold meetings and browse its 5 million books.
The library also issued its Black Lives Matter reading list of 17 books for teens, which was picked up by American Libraries and Publishers Weekly, national publications.
