A review by lattelibrarian
Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford

5.0

I'd never heard of Schomburg before, and I don't know why because he seems absolutely essential to black history in the United States.  He compiled a huge, fantastic library that was all about black history from the more obvious bits to the things he happened upon in antique book stores.  This book, in showing how Schomburg gained such inspiration from those before him, does an incredible job of showing us just who those people were.  Most were people I'd never heard of myself, but some I'd known, but never knew they were black!  For instance--did you know that Beethoven was a "mulatto"?  I certainly didn't!  And it really makes you wonder why you didn't (though I'm sure we all actually know why).  

And on top of that, the illustrations are just gorgeous and realistic, and do a fantastic job of portraying so many different characters and histories.  This is overall an incredibly strong book, one that I hope will be recognized in awards to come, by libraries and bookstores, and by readers ourselves.

Review cross-listed here!