Black Librarians are Superheroes: From Spider-Woman to Mychal Threets

April 16 is National Librarian Day in the United States. It is a “holiday” that has been celebrated off and on since 1958. Not surprisingly, the idea for a special librarian appreciation day was proposed by the American Library Association. (Fun fact, in India, National Librarian Appreciation Day is celebrated on August 12 to honor Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, the “father of Library Science” in India.). Considering the fact that libraries, reading, books and just getting a decent education are all under attack in the United States, the role of the librarian has landed at superhero status. All librarians should be celebrated and honored for the heroic work they do every day, protecting our sacred books and creating safe spaces for all of us to access them.

Here are four Black librarians who deserve special attention in my opinion. Do you agree?

Valerie the Librarian Is an Actual Superhero

Not the real Valerie the Librarian, but a delightful rendering by my son.

Not to make light of the real-life heroic acts librarians perform on a regular basis, it is actually pretty remarkable that the first Spider-Woman ever created in the Marvel universe, was a Black librarian named Valerie. Her appearance was actually a cross-promotion between Marvel and The Electric Company. The glasses-wearing, Afro-sporting Valerie donned a mask and “borrowed” Spider-Man’s suit while he was taking a nap, so she could protect her community from evil villIans in 1974. In another issue, Valerie as Spider-Woman worked with Spider-Man to defeat one of his oldest rivals, The Vulture, and then there was the time Valerie the Librarian helped Spider-Man stop the “bookworm” from eating books. Very on brand for a librarian.

Not only was Valerie the first Spider-Woman, she was also the first Black female superhero in the Marvel universe. Sadly, her tenure was short-lived, and she only appeared in a handful of issues. But I take that to mean she continued her role as community librarian. I think it would be amazing for Valerie the Librarian to be given her own Marvel movie as soon as possible. She totally deserves it and the world really needs it.

The Personal Librarian: Belle da Costa Greene

Yes, Belle da Costa Greene was the subject of a scintillating novel by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, but the fiction in the book, The Personal Librarian, was all based on fact. Belle da Costa Greene is regarded as one of the most important librarians in American history. She was the personal librarian of J.P. Morgan and then became the inaugural director of the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City.

Her biography on the Morgan Library website reads: “Greene’s legacy is powerful and far-reaching. While the significant role she played as J. Pierpont Morgan’s librarian is often acknowledged, her tenure in that position lasted a mere seven years. During her decades-long career as a library executive, she not only acquired countless significant collection items but also made immeasurable contributions to bibliography and scholarship, mentored colleagues at the Morgan and elsewhere, facilitated widespread collection access through object loans and ambitious photographic services, and promoted the work of distinguished women scholars and librarians.”

What the library biography does not mention is that Da Costa was a Black woman passing for white. She was, in fact, born to two Black parents, but when her parents divorced, she and her mother changed their last name, and crossed the color line. Apparently there were rumors about her heritage, but DaCosta shut them down with her insistence that she was Portuguese, and it worked because what people remember DaCosta for is her brilliant mind and her contributions to the greatest library in the United States, not the color of her skin.

Dorothy Porter Decolonized the Library

Dorothy Porter Decolonized Library Systems.

Dorothy Porter might not be a name you are a familiar with, but if we’re going to talk about Black librarians who changed the world, Dorothy Porter deserves a top spot on the list. For starters, Porter, born in 1905, was the first African-American woman to receive a master’s degree in library science from Columbia University. From there, Porter would leave her mark with a distinguished 43-year career as the librarian at Howard University. She amassed a collection of books and materials from around the world that became foundational to the creation of the field of Black Studies, and continues to serve as one of the world’s largest repositories of documented Black history and culture. But even more impactful in the world of libraries, was Porter’s revision of the Dewey Decimal system. A system she viewed as inherently racist.

From Black Perspectives magazine: “Since Dewey’s system grouped all works on “the Negro,” including the subject of slavery itself, into a single category, Porter created multiple subcategories for Black Studies to highlight diverse topics on “the Negro” and debunk the myth that Africana history was a monolith. Researchers finally had “infinite combinations” of description available to them through decimal classification to find materials on African diasporic subjects, including slavery.

As Porter recalled, there were many challenges in expanding Dewey’s technology, which rendered African Americans as either a “slave” or an “immigrant.

By the end of the project, Porter overthrew the Dewey system, classifying works by genre and author to “highlight the foundational role of black people in all subject areas,” with these areas being “art, anthropology, communications, demography, economics, education, geography, history, health, international relations, linguistics, literature, medicine, music, political science, sociology, sports, and religion.” Porter created a classification system that “challenged racism . . . by centering work by and about black people within scholarly conversations around the world.”

All told, Porter was a force of nature. A true superhero in the world of literature and letters.

Mychal Threets: A Librarian for the 21st Century

Library Afro Revolution Day brought to you by Librarian Mychal Threets. (Photo from Threets’ Instagram)

You may not know Mychal Threets by name, you may only know him as the guy on the Internet with the Afro who spreads library love. Well, that guy is Mychal Threets, a librarian from California who used his social media channels to share sweet, uplifting stories about acceptance and being welcomed at the library. It was quite surprising that someone without a capitalist agenda could grow such a large online following, but as they say in these Internet streets, his authenticity shone through.

Unfortunately, Threets’ authenticity and kindness could not protect him from Internet trolls who harassed the young librarian to the point he felt he had to leave his job in order to salvage his mental health. (Note: Threets had always been very transparent that he suffered from mental health issues.) But Mychal Threets had another page to turn in his library story.

Now he seems to be more of a freelance librarian and literacy advocate, and is working with PBS to help kids love libraries. Also, Threets just hosted his first Library Afro Revolution Day, which was a day to celebrate kids’ books about Afros and cool hair. Supposedly there will be more Library Afro Revolution celebrations, which is probably one of the coolest things a Black Librarian Superhero could ever do.

Who are Your Favorite Black Librarian Superheroes?

Clearly there are even more incredible Black librarians in the world who deserve our respect and admiration. If you know one, give them a special shout-out today, or bake them a cupcake. In June 2024, in honor of Juneteenth Day, The New York Times wrote a stunning article on the role Black librarians played in the Harlem Renaissance and beyond, supporting the culture and community of Black readers and writers.