HUMBOLDT PARK — A cozy reading room with blue walls, colorful pillows and hundreds of books by marginalized voices makes up part of the front room of a Humboldt Park coworking and community space.
The Honeycomb Network, 2659 W. Division St., launched its Litanies for Survival community library and reading room last weekend, featuring hundreds of donated books by Black, Indigenous, Latine, Asian and Arab authors as well as queer writers of color.
The library and its curated titles are a symbol of resistance to the surge in book bans nationwide, library organizers said. The library will host events promoting education, media literacy and resistance through writing.
Inspired by poet and activist Audre Lorde’s poem of the same name, Litanies for Survival library was intentionally launched on April 13 to coincide with National Poetry Month. It is co-curated by Tracie D. Hall, librarian, artist and founding curator of Rootwork Gallery, and Denise Ruiz, Honeycomb Network founder and owner.
“Lorde, whose writings have frequently been the target of censorship attacks, speaks to why I think this literary intervention, which seeks to ensure that books that have been banned or are under threat of being banned are accessible to the full community, is so necessary at this time,” Hall said.
Thanks to community donations, the library has about 600 works, including writings by Tony Medina, Alice Walker, Sandra Cisneros, Gwendolyn Brooks and more. Curators want to grow the collection to 1,000 and are looking for banned books, poetry, non-fiction reads, ethnic cookbooks, Spanish-language books and other titles to encourage critical reading.
People who have books that fit the library’s vision can donate them to the shop. Litanies for Survival is open 1-7 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and noon-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
The books are not able to be checked out like a traditional library at this time, but curators hope neighbors will enjoy the books in the reading room, Hall said.
“We want to create that safe space to have this kind of critical dialogue, especially [for] Black and Brown communities,” Ruiz said. “It’s so vital for us to find our alignment and come together.”
As part of the library initiative, The Honeycomb Network plans to host silent book club events, workshops, author talks, panels and salon-style discussions in the large event room next door.
Organizers held the library’s first salon conversation Saturday to celebrate the launch, with locally renowned poets and writers Essence McDowell, Tiff Beatty, Xenia Ruiz and Dr. Jacqueline Lazú. They spoke about poetry and literature as tools of resistance — and the power of access a library can provide.
“The library did indeed save my life,” said Lazú, an author and professor at DePaul University. “Books taught me everything that my parents couldn’t teach me … they taught me a lot, but everything else came from a book in that quiet little space.”
The authors and library curators hope that Litanies for Survival will help young people who may not have access to library books and help people deepen their relationship with books that can impact culture and perspectives.
Xenia Ruiz, a Humboldt Park resident, sees the community library as a way to highlight the neighborhood’s legacy and roots — especially its Puerto Rican history — as the area continues to gentrify and longtime residents are displaced.
“That’s what I tried to do with my books is try to leave a legacy, mostly for my children and my grandchildren, of what was left behind,” Xenia Ruiz, said. “That’s going to be a huge part [of the library] … maintaining the legacy of this neighborhood.”
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