The Springfield-Greene County Library District will celebrate Black History Month in February with a special storytime series.
The “Celebrating Black Brilliance Storytime” will be held on several different days in February at various library branches.
Stephanie Smallwood, youth services coordinator at the library district, says the event will highlight the achievements, cultures and stories of Black authors and illustrators.
The district has been hosting the series for many years for Black History Month, but Smallwood said, for the last few years, they have been calling it “Celebrating Black Brilliance” which is designed to show off Black illustrators and authors.
"Of course, we use these books in our story times, all the time, throughout the year," said Smallwood, "but because it's Black History Month, and because the purpose of Black History Month is to kind of promote more awareness about all the ways that Black people have helped to develop our country, our culture and contributed to so many things, that this is a very age-appropriate way to just kind of showcase some of those great authors and illustrators and creators so that our families can have a stronger dose of just how fantastic their work is."
The series kicks off on February 4 with storytimes at the Republic branch and the Library Station.
For more information about these events and other programs at the Springfield-Greene County Library, visit thelibrary.org.