Remember, Reflect, Rise.
Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.
Join us in June as we celebrate this annual Day of Jubilee, all month long!
Check out our reading lists and resources and enjoy our in-person and virtual programs in honor of this important day in U.S. history.
All Queens Public Library locations will be closed on Thursday, June 19 in observance of Juneteenth.
Juneteenth Books: Adult Fiction
Juneteenth Books: Adult Nonfiction
Juneteenth Books: Young Adult Fiction
Juneteenth Books: Young Adult Nonfiction
Juneteenth Books: Children's Fiction
Juneteenth Books: Children's Nonfiction
Juneteenth Programs
Join us for QPL’s Juneteenth programs for all ages, including arts and crafts, concerts, conversations, storytimes, and much more!
Here is a selection of our Juneteenth programs. Visit the QPL Calendar to see the full list!
Click on the links below for more information.
Juneteenth: Upcycle Art: Fashionable and Functional, an Art Workshop for Adults (In-Person)
Monday, June 2, 11am
East Flushing Library
196-36 Northern Boulevard, Flushing
Thursday, June 5, 4pm
Ozone Park Library
92-24 Rockaway Boulevard
Tuesday, June 17, 1pm
North Hills Library
57-04 Marathon Parkway, Little Neck
Wednesday, June 18, 1pm
Douglaston/Little Neck Library
249-01 Northern Boulevard, Little Neck
***
Juneteenth: Jazz, Swing, and Dance! (In-Person)
Tuesday, June 3, 4pm
Long Island City Library
37-44 21 Street
Wednesday, June 11, 4pm
Hillcrest Library
187-05 Union Turnpike, Flushing
Wednesday, June 18, 4pm
Bay Terrace Library
18-36 Bell Boulevard, Bayside
Saturday, June 21, 1pm
Fresh Meadows Library
193-20 Horace Harding Expressway
Tuesday, June 24, 4pm
Bayside Library
214-20 Northern Boulevard
Wednesday, June 25, 4pm
Rosedale Library
144-20 243 Street
***
Juneteenth: The Sounds of Freedom for Teens (In-Person)
Tuesday, June 3, 4pm
Baisley Park Library
117-11 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica
Monday, June 16, 4pm
Flushing Library
41-17 Main Street
***
Juneteenth: Afrofuturism Art Installation (In-Person)
Wednesday, June 4, 4pm
Cambria Heights Library
218-13 Linden Boulevard
***
Juneteenth: Craft Time for Children (In-Person)
Monday, June 9, 3pm
Fresh Meadows Library
193-20 Horace Harding Expressway
***
Juneteenth: Afrofuturism x Anime x AI x Tiktok (In-Person)
Wednesday, June 11, 4pm
Long Island City Library
37-44 21 Street
Wednesday, June 25, 3:30pm
Fresh Meadows Library
193-20 Horace Harding Expressway
***
Juneteenth: Afrofuturist Theory and AI (In-Person)
Thursday, June 12, 3:30pm
Peninsula Library
92-25 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, Rockaway Beach
***
Juneteenth Celebration with The Art Studio NY (In-Person)
Thursday, June 12, 3:30pm
Long Island City Library
37-44 21 Street
Friday, June 13, 3pm
Hillcrest Library
187-05 Union Turnpike, Flushing
Friday, June 20, 3:30pm
Sunnyside Library
43-06 Greenpoint Avenue, Long Island City
***
Juneteenth Celebration with Brooklyn Music Learning (In-Person)
Thursday, June 12, 3:30pm
Briarwood Library
85-12 Main Street
Friday, June 13, 3:30pm
St. Albans Library
191-05 Linden Boulevard
Monday, June 16 3:30pm
Ridgewood Library
20-12 Madison Street
Tuesday, June 17, 4:30pm (this program is funded by NYC Council Member Nantasha Williams)
South Jamaica Library
108-41 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, Jamaica
Wednesday, June 18, 3:30pm
Far Rockaway Library
1637 Central Avenue
Friday, June 20, 4pm
Rosedale Library
144-20 243 Street
Monday, June 23, 4pm
Fresh Meadows Library
193-20 Horace Harding Expressway
***
Juneteenth Painting Workshop with Juan Ortega (In-Person)
Thursday, June 12, 3:30pm
South Ozone Park Library
128-16 Rockaway Boulevard
Wednesday, June 18, 3:30pm
Glen Oaks Library
256-04 Union Turnpike
Saturday, June 21, 3:30pm
East Flushing Library
196-36 Northern Boulevard, Flushing
***
Juneteenth: From Civil Rights to Civil Responsibility (In-Person)
Friday, June 13, 2pm
Cambria Heights Library
218-13 Linden Boulevard
Monday, June 16, 4pm
South Jamaica Library
108-41 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, Jamaica
Friday, June 20, 3pm
Central Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica
***
Juneteenth & Black Music Month Celebration (In-Person)
Saturday, June 14, 12pm
Langston Hughes Library
100-01 Northern Boulevard, Corona
***
Juneteenth: Black and Indigenous Cowboys (In-Person)
Saturday, June 14, 2pm
Lefrak City Library (Outside)
98-30 57 Avenue (Priscilla Carrow Way), Corona
***
Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz & Alicia Keys (Virtual)
Monday, June 16, 11am
Join us on Zoom: https://queenslib.org/3E78
Passcode: 127199
***
Juneteenth: Afrofuturism, Anime, AI and Tiktok (In-Person)
Monday, June 16, 3:30pm
Far Rockaway Teen Library
2002 Cornaga Avenue
***
Freedom is a New York Story: Honoring the Radical History of Black Freedom Celebrations (Virtual)
Monday, June 16, 6pm
Join us on Zoom: https://queenslib.org/4ka
Passcode: 909844
***
Juneteenth Hip Hop Celebration with Batingua Dance & Drums Productions (In-Person)
Wednesday, June 18, 4pm
Cambria Heights Library
218-13 Linden Boulevard
Wednesday, June 18, 6pm
Central Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica
***
Juneteenth Freedom Walk (In-Person)
Wednesday, June 18, 4pm
Rochdale Village Library
169-09 137 Avenue, Jamaica
***
Juneteenth: Examining Our Racial History Through Poetry with Aileen Bassis (In-Person)
Saturday, June 21, 1pm
Cambria Heights Library
218-13 Linden Boulevard
***
Juneteenth: A Celebration of Freedom (1865-2024): 159 Years of Strife, Struggle, and Success (In-Person)
This program is funded by New York State Assembly Member Vivian Cook.
Saturday, June 21, 3pm
South Jamaica Library
108-41 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard, Jamaica
***
Juneteenth: Let the Dress Tell My Story: A Tribute to Anna Murray Douglas (In-Person)
Monday, June 23, 6pm
Central Library
89-11 Merrick Boulevard, Jamaica
Juneteenth Booklists
Adult Fiction
Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Yonder by Jabari Asim
Book | Audiobook
Conjure Women by Afia Atakora
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Book | eBook | Audiobook | Graphic Novel | Graphic Novel (eBook)
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehesi Coates
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Black Cloud Rising by David Wright Faladé
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
Book | eBook
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Book | eBook
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Fallen Fruit by Shawntelle Madison
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks
Book | eBook
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Book | eBook | Audiobook
River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
Book | Audiobook
The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes
Jubilee by Margaret Walker
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Book | Audiobook
Adult Nonfiction
Juneteenth Texas: Essays in African-American Folklore by Francis E. Abernethy, Patrick B. Mullen, and Alan B. Govenar
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Rooted: The American Legacy of Land Theft and the Modern Movement for Black Land Ownership by Brea Baker
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Remembering Slavery by Ira Berlin
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Galveston's Juneteenth Story: And Still We Rise by Tommie Boudreaux, Alice Gatson,
Jami Durham, and W. Dwayne Jones
Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration by Edward Cotham
Book | eBook
The War Before the War by Andrew Delbanco
Black Reconstruction in America by W. E. B. Du Bois
Book | eBook
She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Book | Audiobook
Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction by Eric Foner
The Second Founding by Eric Foner
Being Black in America's Schools: A Student-Educator-Reformer's Call for Change
by Brian Rashad Fuller
Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow
by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Book | eBook | Audiobook
On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
Book | Audiobook
Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" by Zora Neale Hurston
Book | eBook | Audiobook
To Raise Up a Nation by William S. King
Book | eBook
American Inheritance by Edward J. Larson
The Failed Promise by Robert S. Levine
Black Ghost of Empire by Kris Manjapra
Sleeping with the Ancestors by Joseph McGill Jr. and Herb Frazier
Book | eBook
All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
Of Greed and Glory: In Pursuit of Freedom for All by Deborah G. Plant
The Last Slave Ship by Ben Raines
Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Staying Human by Cole Arthur Riley
How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Watermelon & Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations by Nicole A. Taylor
Freedom's Children by Velma Maia Thomas
Lest We Forget (eBook) by Velma Maia Thomas
Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Young Adult Fiction
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party
by M. T. Anderson
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Deep Blue Between by Ayesha Harruna Attah
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Crossing Ebenezer Creek by Tonya Bolden
Book | eBook
Inventing Victoria by Tonya Bolden
Book | eBook
Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper
Book | eBook
Dream Country by Shannon Gibney
Book | Audiobook
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Book | eBook | Audiobook
This Is My America by Kim Johnson
Book | eBook
African Town by Irene Latham and Charles Waters
Book | Audiobook
Riot by Walter Dean Myers
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Come Juneteenth by Ann Rinaldi
Book | eBook
The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Tiffany D. Jackson
Book | Audiobook
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Book | Audiobook
A Sitting in St. James by Rita Williams-Garcia
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Young Adult Nonfiction
Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by Brandy Colbert
Book | Audiobook
Passenger on the Pearl by Winifred Conkling
Book | eBook
In The Shadow of Liberty by Kenneth C. Davis
Book | Audiobook
Unequal: A Story of America by Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau
Book | Audiobook
Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself
by Monica Edinger and Lesley Younge
This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell
Book | eBook
Poemhood: Our Black Revival: History, Folklore & the Black Experience: A Young Adult Poetry Anthology
edited by Amber McBride, Taylor Byas, and Erica Martin
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Book | eBook | Audiobook
A Long Time Coming: A Lyrical Biography of Race in America from Ona Judge to Barack Obama
by Ray Anthony Shepard and R. Gregory Christie
Children's Fiction
The Night Before Freedom: A Juneteenth Story by Glenda Armand and Corey Barksdale
Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens and Monica Mikai
Book | eBook
All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson and E.B. Lewis
Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson
Book | Audiobook
Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
Book | eBook | Audiobook
All Good in the Hood by Dwayne Reed and Gladys Jose
Annie and Juneteenth by Aletta Seales and Artkina Celestin
A Flag for Juneteenth by Kim Taylor
Book | eBook
Juneteenth Is by Natasha Tripplett and Daniel J. O'Brien
Juneteenth Jamboree by Carole Boston Weatherford and Yvonne Buchanan
Book | eBook
Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Children's Nonfiction
The Juneteenth Cookbook: Recipes and Activities for Kids and Families to Celebrate
by Alliah L. Agostini, Taffy Elrod, and Sawyer Cloud
Juneteenth by R.J. Bailey
Book | eBook
The American Civil War in Texas by Johanna Burke
Let's Celebrate Emancipation Day & Juneteenth by Barbara deRubertis
Book | eBook
Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth
by Alice Faye Duncan and Keturah A. Bobo
Book | eBook | Audiobook
They Built Me for Freedom: The Story of Juneteenth and Houston's Emancipation Park
by Tonya Duncan Ellis and Jenin Mohammed
Hidden Black History: From Juneteenth to Redlining by Amanda Jackson Green
Book | eBook
What Is Juneteenth? by Kirsti Jewel
Book | Audiobook
Traditional African American Arts & Activities by Sonya Kimble-Ellis
Juneteenth by Julie Murray
Book | eBook
Juneteenth by Lynn Peppas
Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem by Sojourner Kincaid Rolle and Alex Bostic
The Real History of Juneteenth by Elliott Smith
Book | eBook
Stories of the Spirit of Justice by Jemar Tisby
Your Legacy: A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved History by Schele Williams and Tonya Engel
Book | eBook | Audiobook
African-American Holidays by Faith Winchester
Juneteenth (Racial Justice in America: Histories) by Kevin P. Winn and Kelisa Wing
Book | eBook
Juneteenth: Our Day of Freedom by Sharon Dennis Wyeth and Kim Holt
Book | Audiobook
This image appeared on an 1865 recruitment poster encouraging African American men to join the Union Army’s United States Colored Troops. During the Civil War, the United States Colored Troops made up more than 10% of the Union Army, despite being prohibited from joining until July 1862, 15 months after the war began. (Source: African American Civil War Memorial Museum)
Juneteenth Resources
The Spirit of Juneteenth: The Journey Continues (Virtual Brochure from QPL, Langston Hughes Library, and Queens Memory)
Juneteenth: The Legacy of Black Greek Organizations (QPL/YouTube, 2022)
Juneteenth - All About the Holidays (PBS Kids/YouTube)
Juneteenth Storytime: "Opal Lee And What It Means To Be Free" (Alice Faye Duncan Books/YouTube)
How 97-Year-Old Activist Opal Lee Became the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” (Biography.com)
The history behind the Juneteenth flag (WCNC Charlotte/YouTube)
Juneteenth Digital Toolkit (National Museum of African American History and Culture)
What Is Juneteenth? (HISTORY)
Celebrating Juneteenth, the Day Slavery Ended (The New York Times)
What is Juneteenth? (CBS News)
Juneteenth: The History of a Holiday (The New York Times)
The History Of Juneteenth (NPR Fresh Air)
Galveston, Texas, is the birthplace of the Juneteenth holiday (NPR)
United States Colored Troops History (African American Civil War Memorial Museum)
Fighting for Their Freedom: Historian Steward Henderson Talks about the United States Colored Troops (Emerging Civil War/YouTube)
How Black families, torn apart during slavery, worked to find one another again (NBC News)
Songs For Freedom: A Juneteenth Playlist From Pianist Lara Downes (NPR)
24 Recipes to Celebrate Juneteenth (Food & Wine)
DIY Confetti Poppers for Juneteenth (Crafting a Fun Life)
4 Meaningful Ways to Celebrate Juneteenth with Your Kids 2022 (Indy's Child Magazine)
Great Ideas for Celebrating Juneteenth (HGTV)
Recognizing This Significant Day in History—Here Are 60 Quotes To Better Understand Juneteenth (Parade Magazine)
How to Celebrate Juneteenth This Year (PureWow)
Juneteenth Printables (Primary Treasure Chest Resources)
25 Ideas to Help You Celebrate Juneteenth (The Cubicle Chick by Danyelle Little)
8 Ways to Teach Your Kids About the Importance of Juneteenth (PopSugar Family)