Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library
by Carole Boston Weatherford (Author) Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)
In luminous paintings and arresting poems, two of children's literature's top African-American scholars track Arturo Schomburg's quest to correct history.
Where is our historian to give us our side? Arturo asked.
Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro-Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk's life's passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg's collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world.
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Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal
Gr 3-6--Born in 1874, Afro-Puerto Rican Arturo Schomburg's sense of wonder was stoked early on by listening to el lector, who read aloud from newspapers and novels to the cigar workers Schomburg kept company. When a teacher asserted that "Africa's sons and daughters" had no history or heroes worth noting, it sparked Schomburg's lifelong quest to uncover his people's stories, "correcting history for generations to come." He immigrated to New York in 1891, and though stymied in his hopes to pursue higher education, began amassing a collection of Africana books and art. Through text and art, Weatherford and Velasquez craft a winning portrait of both collector and his collection. Oversize oil-on-watercolor paintings accompany each page of text: one arresting image finds young Schomburg immersed in a book, with a portrait of Benjamin Bannecker hanging above his shoulder. Velasquez captures Schomburg's proud bearing and intent focus. His research led to writers and poets, including Frederick Douglass and poet Phillis Wheatley; revolutionaries like Toussaint Louverture; and luminaries whose "African heritage had been whitewashed," including John James Audubon and Ludwig van Beethoven. By day, Schomburg worked as a mailroom clerk, but his collecting and scholarship introduced him to members of the Harlem Renaissance, such as Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen. Schomburg's collection was donated to the New York Public Library and now boasts over 10 million items. VERDICT This excellent work of history illuminates Schomburg and his legendary collection for a new generation--it belongs in all public and school libraries.--Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Publishers Weekly
In graceful free verse, Weatherford delivers a remarkable tribute to Arturo Schomburg, the Afro-Puerto Rican historian, collector, and activist who unearthed the hidden history and achievements of "Africa's sons and daughters." In addition to charting the path Schomburg's life took after emigrating to the U.S. from Puerto Rico, she gives ample attention to the knowledge he uncovered as he amassed books: "Schomburg chased the truth and turned up icons/ whose African heritage had been whitewashed," among them John James Audubon, Alexandre Dumas, and Alexander Pushkin, all of whom are captured with vibrancy and life in Velasquez's oil portraits. Schomburg's ambitions, scholarship, and accomplishments were tremendous--"There was no field of human endeavor/ that he did not till with his determined hand"--and Weatherford and Velasquez more than do justice to them. Ages 9-12. Agent: Rubin Pfeffer, Rubin Pfeffer Content. (Sept.)
Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
—New York Times Book Review All of the book's details paint Schomburg as an admirable, flawed, likable, passionate man whose lasting legacy, Harlem's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, opens its doors to all who would learn more about the people its founder knew had been left out of the written record. A must-read for a deeper understanding of a well-connected genius who enriched the cultural road map for African-Americans and books about them.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Lifelong bibliophile Arturo Schomburg would be pleased by Weatherford's prose-poem biography, which praises his passion for researching and collecting books, manuscripts, and other written materials relating black heritage and history...As with her previous book Voice of Freedom (2015), Weatherford illuminates a person well worth knowing. A rich book to add to all collections.
—Booklist (starred review) Through text and art, Weatherford and Velasquez craft a winning portrait of both collector and his collection...Schomburg's collection was donated to the New York Public Library and now boasts over 10 million items. This excellent work of history illuminates Schomburg and his legendary collection for a new generation—it belongs in all public and school libraries.
—School Library Journal (starred review) In graceful free verse, Weatherford delivers a remarkable tribute to Arturo Schomburg...Schomburg's ambitions, scholarship, and accomplishments were tremendous—"There was no field of human endeavor/ that he did not till with his determined hand"—and Weatherford and Velasquez more than do justice to them.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review) With great respect to the man's riveting life story, Caldecott and Coretta Scott King Honors author Carole Boston Weatherford relates through narrative poetry the story of Afro-Puerto Rican immigrant Arturo Schomburg. While each poem in Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library can stand alone as a single snapshot in the literary life of Schomburg, Weatherford's portrayal of the bibliophilic law clerk is so wondrous, readers won't be able to resist turning the pages to learn more.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers (starred review) Velasquez's richly detailed oil paintings aptly capture Schomburg's zeal for learning and for teaching others...A must-read about a bibliophile extraordinaire.
—Horn Book The richness and succinctness of Weatherford's prose and Valesquez's vibrant art indicate to readers how much more there is to black history if they only started digging for themselves.
—HuffPost Carole Boston Weatherford's descriptions and Eric Velasquez's illustrations make clear how tirelessly Schomburg searched for books, pamphlets and art that could 'tell our stories, proclaim our glories'...Although he died about 80 years ago, his library in New York City is a national historic landmark, as big and bustling as ever.
—Washington Post In a series of twenty poems, Weatherford offers readers a biography of the life and work of Arturo Schomburg (1874-1938)...Velasquez's expressive oil paintings capture the time period beautifully.
—Literacy Daily A picture book of incredible poems...Hallelujah!
—Toledo Blade
JNF018010 - Juvenile Nonfiction | People & Places | United States - African-American
JNF063000 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Books & Libraries
