Freedom Library
A Legacy of Liberation Through Books.
In the mid-20th century, under the brutal weight of segregation and suppression, Freedom Libraries emerged as a radical response: community-driven libraries built by and for Black people in places where the mainstream public library system excluded them. These were often born in church basements, community halls, or private homes, grown out of donated books, courageous organizing, and fierce commitment to knowledge access.
They were safe spaces for learning, organizing, and radical imagination. In many places, they offered not only reading materials but workshops, political education, literacy training, and a place for community gatherings.
This legacy lives on in the Freedom Library at Sangha House. We carry forward that tradition by curating works that open paths of healing, wisdom, and liberation. Our largest collections honor three streams of knowledge and culture:
- Buddhism & World Religions — sacred texts, teachings, and interfaith wisdom that guide us toward spiritual sovereignty and compassionate action.
- Health & Wellness — practices and resources for collective and individual healing, trauma recovery, holistic medicine, and well-being of body, mind, and spirit.
- Black Liberation & Arts — writings from the Black Arts Movement, Afro-literary works, histories of resistance, poetry, plays, and scholarship that honor the depth of Black expression and struggle for freedom.
- Alongside these pillars are collections on Indigenous knowledge, queer and BIPOC voices, banned books, and the cultural legacies of New Orleans. The Freedom Library reminds us that access to knowledge is a form of liberation, that reading is resistance, and that collective healing and awakening are deeply entwined with the stories we preserve and pass on. By tending these shelves, we support our practice and cultivation for the liberation of all beings, uprooting the causes of suffering and remembering our shared freedom.