Stuck in a reading rut? Sign up for the annual Free Black Women’s Library Reading Challenge.
Is your TBR pile daunting and diffuse? Have you failed to find the kick-off book that suits the vibes of 2025? Or, are you maybe just looking for a structure to put some juice into your reading life?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, may I recommend the Free Black Women’s Library Reading Challenge? Now in its sixth year, the challenge invites bibliophiles to read “24 books written by Black women and Black non-binary writers by December 31 2025.”
In the flesh, the Free Black Women’s Library is a collection of over five thousand books written by Black women and Black non-binary writers. Located in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, the IRL “third-space social art project” is also home to a free store and a period pantry. Local visitors can enjoy a weekly book swap and a wide array of workshops and free public programs. But through its robust socials, the library maintains a national reach. Its Free Black Women’s Reading Group, for instance, meets monthly via Zoom.
And any reader anywhere can pick up their annual gauntlet.
The challenge encourages readers to seek out a diaspora of books. Participants are encouraged to blow up genre habits, and reach for a cookbook (“or a book with food as the central theme/topic”), an anthology, a graphic novel, or a play in addition to memoirs and works of literary fiction. The list of 40 prompts also includes vibe-ier offerings, like “a book with a one word title,” or “a book with a character that reminds you of yourself.”
Some or the challenge prompts!
As library founder OlaRonke Akinmowo noted in an Instagram announcement, “It’s not about quantity and it’s not a competition. It’s about diversifying your reads, stepping out of your comfort zone and exposing yourself to authors or genres you may have never heard of or encountered.” Akinmowo encourages all types of readers to give the challenge a try, and notes that she works hard to make the prompts as diverse and accessible as possible.
You can find the details on Storygraph. (Where we’re all supposed to be migrating, as Goodreads crumbles in on itself.) And for those readers looking for accountability or support, you can join the Free Black Women’s Library Discord or reading club “for community, inspiration, or encouragement” along the way. Facilitators merely ask that you tag @thefreeblackwomenslibrary in your posts about the challenge, and use the hashtag #TFBWLREADS where appropriate.
I’ll be in the stacks. See you in December.
Images via
