February is Black History Month, an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing the central role they played in U.S. history. Since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. We hope you will join us in celebrating Black History and Heritage this month and all year long at the Fort Smith Public Library.  The library is offering several programs spotlighting Black History this month, and also has many resources that may be of interest to you.

The Miller Branch Library will hold their Black History Month Celebration on Saturday, February 29, from 1 - 3 PM.  Help celebrate the 94th annual Black History Month with this program featuring a storytime for families, featuring books written by and about African Americans.  After the, storytime, Patricia Porter, a missionary to Africa for 43 years, will help lead an interactive program for all ages. Discussions will include African history, including famous African inventors, and there will be traditional African clothing and fabric on display. 

The Main Library will hold their Black Heritage Celebration also on Saturday, February 29, at 2 PM.  We hope you will join us for this inspiring, informative, and entertaining celebration of African American history and heritage. This year's all-ages event will feature magician Tommy Terrific's educational magic show about Black Cowboys of the Old West. The kids will learn about Bill Pickett who invented bulldogging, as Tommy does a magic trick with a steer's skull.  They will learn about Nat Love, an expert roper, as Tommy does a rope magic trick. The kids will also learn about Mary Fields, who delivered mail out West, as Tommy does a magic trick from a mail package. This show is very interactive, and it is great educational entertainment for children of all ages.  A display of library materials related to African American history and heritage will also be featured at this special Black History Month event.

The library offers a wide variety of online resources on subjects of all kinds.  For Black History month, you may be interested to look at African American Heritage or African-American History Online.  These databases, free with your library card, are available along with dozens more on the library's website. 

You can also take a look at our book list featuring African American Fiction.  It is one of many book lists for adults, teens, and kids, created by Fort Smith Public Library staff available on the library's website. 

For more information about the library's free programs, events, materials, and resources, please visit our website or call 479-783-0229.