The Institute for Ethnic Studies is donating more than 600 books to the Ferguson Municipal Public Library in Ferguson, Mo.
The books — collected during a campuswide donation drive in the 2014-15 academic year — are being sent to the library, which served as a refuge to children and adults during the unrest that followed the 2014 killing of Michael Brown. Indigo Bridge Books, an independent bookstore in Lincoln’s Haymarket, partnered with ethnic studies on the book drive.
“People from across UNL and Lincoln were incredibly generous,” said Joy Castro, director of UNL’s Institute for Ethnic Studies. “We loved how people from different areas came together. In ethnic studies, we know that education doesn’t stop when class ends. It extends out into the community, and it’s a seven-days-a-week endeavor.”
The effort is an extension of community outreach conducted by UNL faculty, said James Garza, associate director of the institute.
“We couldn’t travel to Ferguson to participate directly in the protests. So, supporting the library seemed like a natural way for us, as educators, to express our solidarity.”
The donated books include classics of African American literature such as W.E.B. Du Bois’s “The Souls of Black Folk” and Toni Morrison’s “Sula,” along with more recent titles such as Tayari Jones’s “Silver Sparrow” and Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s “Wench.” Other genres collected include a variety of children’s, young adult, mass market thrillers and contemporary nonfiction titles.
