The special 2026 Black-authored book list release is supported for those with a free NYPL library card by immediate access to titles and book giveaways through February; the book list further honors the 100th anniversary of the Schomburg Center.

(Black PR Wire) The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture has published a special book list of Black-authored books from the past 100 years. 100 Black Voices: Schomburg Centennial Reading List was led by the Center’s reference division and features recommendations from some of the leading voices in Black history, literature, scholarship, and art, as well as the Schomburg Center’s extended library community.

The 100 titles on the list are now available at The New York Public Library’s circulating and research branches. In addition, to ensure patrons can enjoy the books as soon as possible, NYPL is offering instant e-book and audiobook access to a selection of the most highly recommended titles, as well as book giveaways at select locations.

“Not only were we able to engage brilliant minds about their favorite books, but we also received thoughtful and unexpected choices to encourage our patrons to read, discover, and explore,” said Maira Liriano, the Schomburg Center’s Associate Chief Librarian of the Research and Reference Division. “The list is a continuation of our legacy of literacy in encouraging the exploration and access to Black literature, and highlights the many riches in our vast research collections."

Recommendations for the book list were supplied by literary and cultural luminaries, such as Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Glenn Ligon, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Jelani Cobb, Imani Perry, James McBride, Mateo Askaripour, Alison Stewart, Leonard Greene, Isabel Wilkerson, Herb Boyd, Darryl Pinckney, Raven Leilani, Bryan Stevenson, Arturo Schomburg's great-granddaughter Aysha E. Schomburg,  Schomburg Center director Joy L. Bivins, and many more.

More than 70 recommenders across the disciplines of music, media, art, literature, and scholarship were asked to submit titles of books that have shaped their practice. With 400 titles submitted, the works of Toni Morrison, Maya Angelou, and James Baldwin—all important authors with ties to the Center–received the most recommendations.

The book list features iconic works from writers of the Harlem Renaissance such as The New Negro (Alain Locke), Plum Bun (Jessie Redmon Fauset), and The Mis-Education of the Negro (Carter G. Woodson). 100 Black Voices also includes classics in Black literature, including Sula (Toni Morrison) and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou) as well as more recent bestsellers such as Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates), Homegoing (Yaa Gyasi), and James (Percival Everett). This list offers some unexpected choices curated by a selection committee in the interest of promoting other works by well-known authors and to spark curiosity and conversation.

The book list not only honors the Center’s 100th anniversary, but its release also comes nearly 100 years after Carter G. Woodson, the historian, author, and journalist, initiated “Black History Week,” which would evolve into Black History Month. The Schomburg Center, a research center of The New York Public Library located in the heart of Harlem (515 Malcolm X Blvd), is one of the oldest and largest public libraries focused on Black history in the nation.

BOOK GIVEAWAYS AND A SPECIAL EDITION LIBRARY CARD

Select titles from the 100 Black Voices list are available to NYPL cardholders right away, with no wait times. Through February 28, anyone with an NYPL library card can borrow these e-book and audiobook titles for three weeks on their favorite devices by checking them out on the Libby e-reader app.

Throughout Black History Month 2026, NYPL branches will be giving away hundreds of physical copies of 10 select titles, those that were recommended the most frequently. Giveaway books will be available at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building; Harlem libraries including Countee Cullen, Harlem, 125th Street, George Bruce, Hamilton Grange, Harry Belafonte-115th Street, Macomb's Bridge; and library hubs including the Bronx Library Center, St. George Library Center, and Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library.

The special-edition Schomburg Centennial library card, released at the start of the Centennial celebrations, which features an image of Rivers, the public art installation that honors poet Langston Hughes, is available at NYPL locations while supplies last.

Leadership support for the Schomburg Center's Centennial is provided by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) and Andreas C. Dracopoulos.

Additional support is provided by Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, and The Fullgraf Foundation.

About the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

Founded in 1925 and named a National Historic Landmark in 2017, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is one of the world’s leading cultural institutions devoted to the preservation, research, interpretation, and exhibition of materials focused on African American, African Diasporan, and African experiences. As a research division of The New York Public Library, the Schomburg Center features diverse programming and collections totaling over 11 million items that illuminate the richness of global Black history, arts, and culture. Learn more at schomburgcenter.org.

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