Lancaster University: Black History Month at Lancaster University Library

Lancaster University Library is hosting a number of public events and activities to acknowledge and celebrate Black History Month.

Organised in partnership with staff and student groups, the month will see a series of talks and panel events taking place in the Library’s new Events and Exhibition Space including:

‘Glocal’ Perspectives: Library Collection and Lancaster History Tour – Monday 10th October 12 – 2 p.m. (booking required) Join us as we explore Lancaster’s links with histories that span from the Roman Empire to the British Empire to the modern world. You’ll also have the chance to learn about the city’s ties with global stories relating to trade, commerce, culture, society, livelihoods and change, before finding out about Lancaster University Library’s Glocal (Global and Local) collection, community card membership and Black History Month events.
Decolonising Higher Education. What’s in it for us? What do we have to lose? – Wednesday 12th October 2 – 3.30 p.m. Although decolonising has a very long history, it has certainly risen in public consciousness over the past few years. Depending on what you read, listen to, or watch – and who you are – it either represents a call for long overdue reckonings or a threat to modern society as we know it. This session opens up a discussion around what decolonising means, how it relates to universities, and what the implications are for staff and students.
Facing our past, transforming our future: reframing Lancaster’s history, panel event – Thursday 27th October 6 – 7.15 p.m. (Join online or in-person) During Black History Month join this discussion considering what is meant by reparative history and what will be achieved by uncovering previously hidden narratives from both sides of Lancaster’s past. This event will showcase some of the ongoing projects and work locally, with panel members including Professor Imogen Tyler (Professor of Sociology – Lancaster University); Lela Harris (Kendal Artist commissioned for the Facing The Past project), Jasmine Patel (Lancaster Black History Group); and Professor Alan Rice (Professor in English and American Studies, Director of UCLan Research Centre in Migration, Diaspora and Exile).
Members of the public are always welcome to visit the Library or join the Library as a Community member free of charge.

Andrew Barker, Library Director, said: “Our University library is a library for all our communities – we have recently launched a community card to provide free access to our print book collections and increasingly events and exhibitions are central to our activities. Although we celebrate Black History throughout the year, we all look forward to Black History Month, a cornerstone in our events and exhibitions calendar, I hope people can join us at an event or make use of our collections this October.”

From 14th October there will be a display documenting Lancaster University Student Union’s participation in the global campaign against Apartheid, when they successfully campaigned to have the library café re-named the Nelson Mandela Coffee Bar – ‘Coffee Bar Victory!’ The Library Coffee Bar and the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s, as well a display of books celebrating Black lived experience and allyship.