We’ve all wondered what books fill the shelves – or the book bag – of Solange Knowles. Is she reading Kincaid? Proust? Maybe she's a poetry savant? A secret lit-fic fanatic? Or a devotee of the classics?
But now, with the launch of the Saint Heron Community Library, we will wonder no longer. Knowles has opened a window into her literary world, opening up a library that yes, you can borrow from.
What is Saint Heron Community Library?
At its core, the library is a digital archive of rare, out-of-print, and first-edition works by Black and Brown authors, poets, and artists. But it’s not just about access – it’s about preservation, celebration, and community.
Readers across the USA can borrow physical copies of titles from the library for up to 45 days, free of charge, complete with a prepaid return label. It’s simple, generous, and radical.
Each season, guest curators will be bringing fresh vision to the collection, ensuring the library never feels static. As Solange put it herself, “We would like to play a small part in creating free access to the expansive range of critical thought and expression by these great minds.”
How can I borrow?
Books are available via the Saint Heron Community Library website.
Once you've selected a title you should be able to hit a 'Borrow' button in the bottom right corner of the screen if available. As expected, the site is popular so most books are currently on loan – you'll just have to keep tabs to get your hands on them when they're back online.
Readers across the USA can borrow titles for 45 days, free of charge, complete with a prepaid return label.
What books are available?
The Saint Heron Community Library shelves are as eclectic and illuminating as you might expect from Solange’s curatorial vision. Within the collection, you’ll find:
- Poetry: Coal by Audre Lorde, An Ordinary Woman by Lucille Clifton, A Daughter’s Geography by Ntozake Shange, and The Black Unicorn by Audre Lorde.
- Science Fiction & Prose: Octavia Butler’s Clay’s Ark and Bloodchild, plus experimental works like In Our Terribleness by Amiri Baraka.
- Exhibition Catalogues & Art Books: Cedric Dover’s landmark American Negro Art, The Art of Henry O. Tanner, Gary Simmons’s Ghost House, and rare catalogues from Adrian Piper, Pope.L, and Barbara Chase-Riboud.
- Anthologies & Essays: Claudia Rankine’s Just Us, June Jordan’s Civil Wars, Haki R. Mahubuti’s Earthquakes and Sunrise Missions.
- Biographies & History: Judith Jamison: Aspects of a Dancer, Julian Abele: Architect and the Beaux Arts, and The Architectural Legacy of Wallace A. Rayfield.
- Unique Finds: Wanda Coleman’s searing Mad Dog Black Lady, Etheridge Knight’s Poems from Prison, and even Madam Zenobia’s Space Age Lucky Eleven Dream and Astrology Book.
Together, these works form a kaleidoscopic archive – part poetry corner, part art history vault, part radical reading list – that resists easy labels but insists on significance.
Feature image via Instagram.
