Black History Month (BHM) Programming Survey, United States, 2024-2025

The purpose of this study was to explore the current state of BHM programming nationally, develop a model of BHM programming, and operationalize previously identified core library programming competencies.

The two main research questions were:

• what is the state of BHM programming in public libraries, and,
• how are service area, library organizational, and individual factors associated with the existence and complexity of BHM programming?

Service area variables included region, urbanicity, and the percentage of African American/Black population in the census tract. Library organizational variables included library size, library budget, presence of African American/Black staff, total number of librarians, and size of the library system. Individual variables of the person completing the survey included years as a librarian, length of time at the sampled library, and competencies such as Knowledge of the Community (a psychometrically developed scale) and Cultural Humility (a previously created scale validated with librarians). In addition to the variables above, the questionnaire includes whether the library conducts BHM programming, reasons for not doing so, who plans BHM programming, type of BHM programs, number of programs by age group, percent of African American history programming in February vs throughout the year, awareness and utilization of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History theme, frequency of programming focused on different periods, attitudes about BHM, questions about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and concern about implementing BHM programming in the current political climate. There has never been a systematic study of Black History Month (BHM) programming in public libraries with a nationally representative sample.

This study was conducted by the University of Michigan, Program for Research on Black Americans, in partnership with the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) and the Public Library Association (PLA).

These data will be available starting in September 2026 until then, the data are embargoed.