African American Library Advisory Committee co-founder Mary Harris Evans, left, and AALAC member Gloria Brown at the San Mateo Public Library on 55 W. Third Ave.
A group that has hosted programs and raised money for San Mateo libraries for more than two decades is bringing celebrated author and professor Dr. Jelani Cobb to San Mateo in October.
San Mateo’s African American Library Advisory Committee or AALAC, has played a key role in reaching out to and getting Cobb to San Mateo Oct. 1, when he will be at the College of San Mateo Theater at 6 p.m. to speak about the intersection of race, politics, history and American culture. Cobb is a Peabody Award-winning journalist and dean of the Columbia University Journalism School. He is a staff writer for The New Yorker Magazine and appears on various news television programs. The event moderator will be Dr. Clayborne Carson, the Martin Luther King Jr. centennial professor at Stanford University. The event is called “The Half-Life of Freedom: Race and Justice in America Today.” AALAC member Gloria Brown said the group connected with Cobb because he and Brown’s daughter went to Howard University together, and Cobb has attended previous San Mateo library events. The event occurs right before the November election. All the money from the event will go back to the AALAC for more culturally enriching programs.
“It’s a real treat to have him here in San Mateo of all places,” Brown said. “This man speaks all over, and to have him in San Mateo, one should not miss this opportunity to hear him.”
Mary Harris Evans, a co-founder of AALAC, said events like the Cobb talk would help pay for future programs that will benefit the next generation.
“I’m hoping we continue to do free programming, which we have done a lot of in the past,” Harris Evans said.
Evans said AALAC started in 1999 with help from local community leaders Mildred Swann and Arthur Brown. The group sought to bring library programming activities to residents throughout San Mateo County, especially the African American community. Harris Evans grew up on a farm in Alabama and was not allowed to go to the library as a child despite being a reader and not allowed to take the bus. She was only able to go to a library when she went to Tuskegee University. Her experiences fostered her desire to learn about Black and non-European history and educate future generations. Before the pandemic, she volunteered at library branches and still seeks new AALAC programs.
“The fact that I was unable to go to the library because of the color of my skin was a huge part of my life,” Harris Evans said. “That is why libraries are so important to me.”
Brown said her mother had similar experiences and did not have the opportunity to vote or visit the library while growing up in the South. Brown’s mother encouraged her to embrace civic and societal participation as a hard-earned right. The injustice has helped fuel Brown’s commitment to improving the community.
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“I believe in advocacy, and advocacy for the right reasons,” Brown said.
One of the group’s biggest accomplishments over the decades was raising money for the then-new library at 55 W. Third Ave. The group raised around $80,000 for the library and raised enough money to receive a plaque on the third floor honoring their donations. AALAC puts on two to three events each year, with past events bringing in nationally known musicians like jazz duo Tuck and Patti, Keith Williams, an annual summer film festival, Black History Month activities, a musical youth competition, author series and an afternoon with the first Black librarian at the Library of Congress, Carla Hayden.
Brown said AALAC wants to give back to the community and be aware of culturally enriching events and activities. In the future, Brown said the group wants to encourage the next generation to participate in advocacy and help other diverse groups.
“I think we seek to broaden the perspective of what contributions African Americans have made and bring it to the San Mateo community through the library,” Brown said.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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