Black History

Explore Black history and culture

Service Update

We continue to recover from a cybersecurity incident that disrupted all library systems and technology. As a result, using the library is a little different right now.

Toronto Public Library honours Black History year round with programs, reading lists and podcast episodes that shine a spotlight on Black history and culture.

Upcoming events

Join us for events hosted at different branches across the city – from documentary screenings to panel discussions, and community art projects to storytimes. Find an event near you.

Black voices

Watch recordings of live events featuring preeminent Black authors, scholars, thinkers and performers.

Choose from replays of past Live & Online events on Crowdcast (below), and explore our Black voices playlist on YouTube.

Watch replays of past programs in our Black History series

Podcasts

Listen to these featured episodes, and discover more captivating conversations and archived recordings from our Live Mic and Writers Off the Page podcast series.

Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection

The Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection features over 19,000 books, DVDs, CDs, newspapers and magazines for adults, children and teens. Materials focus on the Black and Caribbean historical and cultural experience, with a special emphasis on Canadian content.

Our Black history image

Collage portrait of Dr. Rita Cox, made up of book covers and flowers.

This collage of Dr. Rita Cox was created to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection. Staff from the Maria A. Shchuka branch used images of book covers to design this imaginative homage to the collection's namesake.

Support Heritage Collections

Help grow the Rita Cox Black and Caribbean Heritage Collection by donating to the Rita Cox Endowment Fund. Donate today at Toronto Public Library Foundation or 416-393-7123.