Learning from our Past: Celebrating Black History Month with Lancaster University Library

Lancaster was at one stage the fourth largest slave trading port in Britain.

After Liverpool, Bristol and London, Lancaster was the port from where over 180 ships set sail on a journey to the coast of West Africa to trade in enslaved black Africans who were then sold in the Caribbean and the Americas.

The enslaved worked as forced labour on plantations that grew commodities like sugar, cotton, mahogany and rum which were then exported back to the British Isles.

The slavery business and its link to Lancaster must be made visible so that these hidden histories can provide a more complete picture of how wealth was generated through the slave economies, to show how cities like Lancaster are connected to global stories of trade, empire and migration.

Universities and libraries have a civic duty to enable these stories to be shared and accessed by the general public. Lancaster University library has been working on these and other elements of hidden histories alongside Lancaster Black History Group (LBHG) and the Decolonising Lancaster University (DLU) Network over the past few years.

The starting point

In 2019, the library began a serious exploration of what decolonisation meant in practice, by examining the legacies of slavery, colonialism and empire in relation to everyday systems, processes and practices associated with the library.

Under the enterprising leadership of two librarians, the process included information sharing sessions and workshops about its relevance, the debates associated with the topic, what other libraries were doing in relation to this, and identifying the various practical ways that the library could begin to decolonise its collection and related processes.

These initiatives were given greater impetus when the library leadership and associated staff members decided to collaborate with LBHG on the Slavery Family Trees community research project.

Three projects stemmed out of this collaboration. The Slavery Family Trees Conference, in collaboration with LBHG was held in 2021. The community card offer was launched to allow members of the public to borrow books free of charge.

The third was the creation of the library's first 'Glocal' collection (global themes and local connections) on transatlantic slavery.

This collaboration alongside others garnered national recognition for the library team in 2022.

In addition, the library began to trial practical ways by which it could decolonise the collection for example, by modifying existing systems of procurement, subscriptions and indexing.

Supporting staff and the wider community

From 2021-22, the library also started providing staff and students with additional opportunities to access generic information about resources to help decolonise curriculum content.

It enhanced specific support and guidance for different faculties to help with the process of decolonising library resources associated with various disciplines.

The faculty librarian staff have also been working with staff and students in Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA) on experimental workshops regarding decolonisation.

They are currently evaluating some of the pre-existing tools and frameworks to see if they work effectively or require reform.

The library has also collaborated with departments and with DLU to host various events within the library including exhibiting the Slavery Family Trees exhibition in 2023 and providing support for Glocal walks that are offered to students as part of welcome week.

Many of these events are free and open to the local community.

Enriching the knowledge of Librarians

The library has also placed emphasis on enriching the knowledge base of its own staff members in relation to different aspects of black and other marginalised histories.

The Anti-Racism Advocacy Group is formed of colleagues across different teams within the library. Its aim is to ensure that efforts towards decolonising practices and actively being anti-racist - both as a team and on an individual basis are continuously encouraged and prioritised.

In the last few years, this has included organising reading and discussion groups as well as workshops.

Most recently, the group organised a trip for library staff to visit the local Judges' Lodgings museum where it was joined by the Co-Chair of the LBHG, Professor Alan Rice.

Alan's knowledge and expertise in local Black history provided a deeper insight into Lela Harris's portrait exhibition of 'Facing the Past: Black Lancastrians' which showcased the Satterthwaite letter books that are stored in the Special Collections at the library.

Colleagues at the library also recognise that they need to continue to build opportunities to collaborate with others to enable the development of new and creative ways of sharing knowledge and practices.

By keeping an open channel for communication with their partners, staff have been able to consider more intersectional ideas for different projects and events. For example, working with LBHG has connected them with Lela Harris.

What's on for Black History Month 2023

During this year's Black History Month (BHM) celebrations, the library is exhibiting original drawings from her work on the Folio Society edition of 'The Color Purple' by Alice Walker.

A selection of Lela's portraits on the theme of sisterhood have also featured as part of the display - which is connected to this year's BHM theme of 'Saluting our Sisters'.

Staff hope that this will serve to remind the onlooker of the importance of playing an active role in fighting against anti-racism and misogyny.

Other collaborations have included a poetry reading, documentary screening and a workshop with DLU.

In the coming months, the discussion will continue on how how to make the library's practices more equitable (rather than just equal), by organising events that provide an insight into librarianship with a specific focus on encouraging and empowering those from marginalised backgrounds.

The secrets to success

Other plans include a collaboration between the Open Research and Learning Development Team on a project relating to Citation Justice.

All this has been made possible in part because of pressure from the grassroots combined with support from senior leadership.

Enterprising staff at every level have harnessed opportunities to address legacies of slavery, colonialism and empire in novel and creative ways.

This has been coupled with support from individuals in key leadership roles at the university library who have provided resources and encouragement to learn, share, reflect and enact change.

By doing so, staff at Lancaster University library are collectively engaging with the notion of reparative history, as championed by the historian Catherine Hall.

They are helping to repair historical wrongs by acknowledging and addressing the colonial legacies of the past.

Through these ongoing initiatives, Librarians from Lancaster University Library are better placed to address systemic and institutional inequalities, and in doing so they can usher in change that can transform the lives of students, staff and the wider community.

Details on contributors:

Fabiha Askari is the Research, Engagement and EDI Assistant (Graduate Trainee) at Lancaster University's Library. She is also currently the Co-Chair of the Lancaster Black History Group.

Dr Sunita Abraham is a Lecturer in Decolonisation in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) in Lancaster University. She is also the research coordinator for Lancaster Black History Group's Slavery Family Trees Community Research Project.

Paul Newnham is a Faculty Librarian for the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Lancaster Universitys Library. He is also the Chair of the library's Anti-Racism Advocacy Group.

Find out more about all the projects and the Lancaster Black History Group , and visit the Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA) site

This article first appeared on CILIP News