BCC Library

Welcome to the BCC library

The Purdue Black Cultural Center library is charged with the special mission of preserving knowledge in the field of Black Studies. It is the only library on campus, which specializes in materials related to the historical, sociological, political and cultural aspects of the lives of African American people, serving to enhance patrons' understanding of the contributions of African Americans.

The Black Cultural Center Library presently contains more than 7,000 books and subscribes to more than 40 periodicals including popular magazines, scholarly journals, and newspapers. Periodical holdings include titles such as the Black Masks: Spotlight on Black Art, Ebony, Essence, International Journal of African Renaissance Studies, Journal of African American Studies, and NSBE: The National Society of Black Engineers Magazine, Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society. Other materials in the collection are a vertical file of newspaper clippings and tape recordings of selected BCC programs and events. Current subscriptions to state and regional newspapers are the Chicago Defender, Frost Illustrated (Fort Wayne), Gary Crusader, Indiana Herald, Indianapolis Recorder, and Muncie Times. Unique in the collection are recordings of lectures or readings presented by renowned scholars, poets, politicians, artists, and activists sponsored by the Black Cultural Center Cultural Arts Series. Recordings of presentations by Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, Mary Frances Berry, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, Dr. John Hope Franklin, Nikki Giovanni, Haki Madhubuti, Sweet Honey In The Rock and many others are held by the Black Cultural Center library. CDROM holdings include the Art and Life in Africa (University of Iowa), Encarta Africana, George Washington Carver (Papers, Notes, and Letters) and the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database produced by Cambridge University Press. Black-related databases accessible on the Purdue Libraries website are African American Newspapers: The 19th Century, African American Poetry, Black Drama, Black Thought and Culture, Civil War: A Newspaper Perspective, Ethnic Newswatch and International Index to Black Periodicals.

The Black Cultural Center library maintains a web site (www.purdue.edu/BCC/library) which contains selected bibliographies, book reviews by Purdue graduate students, and discussion questions for some books held in the Juvenile Collection. External links to resources relating to the Black experience worldwide are connected. In the BCC Library patrons may use the computer terminal designated for public use or may bring their laptops for wireless connection to access the online catalog, indexes, databases and other digitized learning resources.

The library interior provides comfortable seating accommodations and easy physical access to the collection. Most volumes are on "open" stacks for direct access. Back issues of popular magazines, oversized books and books at high risk for lost are retained in "closed" stacks and can be obtained by request.

The library serves to enhance the patron's knowledge of the African-American heritage by providing information which can be examined for academic research and/or personal growth. The BCC Library works in cooperation with the Purdue Libraries. Its cataloged holdings are included in the Purdue Libraries online catalog.

All Purdue students, faculty and staff may borrow materials and use the services at the Black Cultural Center library. The public is encouraged to use the collection.