By Michaela Corniea
Let me tell you a story about the book collection of Toni Randolph. Step into the old Carnegie library on Greenbrier Street, now home of the East Side Freedom Library. Upon entering, take a left. Straight ahead, halfway through the row of shelves and tucked into an alcove with a bench seat, there is a grouping of 175 books. They fit squarely in the area above the seat and to the right of the window, a satisfying fit spread over four shelves. Within the collection is a wide variety of titles and topics, reflective of Randolph’s interests. Biographies, essays, crime fiction and cookbooks mingle in the shelves. Donated posthumously in 2017 by her friend and younger brother, these books reflect Toni Randolph’s life, beliefs, and career.
Skimming over the shelves, there are recognizable authors and familiar titles: Paradise, Sula, and The Nobel Lecture in Literature 1993 by Toni Morrison, White Teeth by Zadie Smith, One Day When I Was Lost by James Baldwin, A Song Flung Up to Heaven by Maya Angelou, and Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart by Alice Walker. There are biographies about prominent Black figures throughout American history: Madame C.J. Walker, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, and Michael Jackson, to name a few. There are books to teach and learn from: New York Burning by Jill Lepore, From Slavery to Freedom (4th ed.) by John Hope Franklin, and Psychology of Women (2nd ed.) by Juanita Williams. There are books so small they seem invisible until you examine the shelves, and there are books so large they had to be tipped sideways to fit. They jump in topic from one to the next, ensuring a new subject with each discovery.
Some of the books are focused on Toni Randolph’s professional life. She was a news editor for Minnesota Public Radio, with a focus on drawing in new audiences and giving voice to the unheard. Randolph was also a member of the National Association for Black Journalists and mentored young journalists through programs at MPR and the University of St. Thomas.
Toni Randolph’s main fields of news coverage were homelessness, immigration, and politics. Exploring these topics are books such as Reflections of an Affirmative Action Baby by Stephen L. Carter and The Assault on Diversity: An Organized Challenge to Racial and Gender Justice by Lee Cokorinos. There are also many books on writing (such as Getting Your Writing Out There: A Step-By-Step Guide to Successful Writing and Publishing by Valerie Rose) and the intersection of race and journalism (like with Uncovering Race: A Black Journalist’s Story of Reporting and Reinvention by Amy Alexander). A common theme among all the books on these shelves is the role of race in history, politics, journalism and storytelling. MPR News described Randolph as a “champion for voices unheard and voices that needed lifting up” (Martin). Looking through these shelves, her commitment is evident in the titles, authors, and topics of her personal collection. Beyond diversifying newsrooms, Toni’s legacy is now diversifying the minds and interests of patrons of the East Side Freedom Library.
ESFL’s shelving strategy of keeping books by collections has caught my imagination. It allows me — and other guests — to explore how someone thought by exploring the books that they collected over a lifetime of intellectual work. Having the books shelved as collections also allows them to be viewed in different contexts; for example, a history book in the Toni Randolph collection is not just a history book but a book about the history of laws in the public school system and how they affect Black students, a book Randolph would perhaps read while working with young journalists. It is eye-opening and mind-opening to explore the books this way, and diving into Toni Randolph’s collection has been educational in a multitude of ways.
As a 2020 graduate from the University of St. Thomas, I feel a personal connection to this collection, knowing that Randolph worked with students at my school. My time at the university focused heavily on English courses, as well as Women’s Studies and Psychology, and in many of these books I see those focuses reflected back at me. Psychology of Women immediately caught my eye, and I also noticed the number of female authors on the shelves. Several of these books are on my own to-be-read list, including Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay. I may not be a journalist, but there is still lots for me to discover and learn in this collection. As I learn about Toni Randolph and connect this knowledge to her books, I’m truly inspired by the work she did in her life and I feel drawn to read every book on the shelves. Of course, with the size of the collection, I would be at the East Side Freedom Library for a while, but I have started to read a couple of them. One book in particular that I am inspired by is On the Outside Looking In: A Year in an Inner-City High School by Cristina Rathbone. Rathbone is a journalist, who in this book focuses on youth in inner-city New York and their time in an underfunded “last chance” high school. I go into more detail on the book with a full review here: Rathbone review.
Of course, as enjoyable as it is to learn something new, a good book collection can (and should) have more than just academic texts. Thankfully, we can explore the books Toni Randolph read for her personal enjoyment as well. Searching through these books, this collection yields a gem. Featured in the collection are seven novels by Walter Mosley: three from his Easy Rawlins mystery series, one from the Leonid McGill mystery series, two of his Socrates Fortlow novels, and one of his general science fiction novels. Each of the books are signed and personalized “To Toni.”
Some even hold more personal notes, and one of the books is an advanced copy, meaning Randolph received it before the publication date. Not only did Toni Randolph read these books, she got them signed and very clearly enjoyed them and admired the author. There are other authors with multiple books that Toni collected, such as Bebe Moore Campbell and Terry McMillan, but none in the same quantity as Mosley. Again, this is a solid example of diversifying stories. In all areas of life and through each type of input, such as news, novels, music and more, we should have a representative selection of stories.
When telling the story of a book collection, it is important to leave readers with an impression beyond ‘it’s a lot of books.’ So what impression can we get from the books of Toni Randolph? What do we learn from glancing at these shelves? What Toni Randolph liked to read, study, and write about. History, politics, a deeper understanding of race relations. What it means to be a Black journalist in America. How to tell a story, and how to get people to listen. More than anything though, the biggest message from Toni’s books is an appreciation for diverse voices and the understanding that her legacy should be carried on.
Citation:
Martin, Meg. “Veteran MPR News journalist, mentor and teacher Toni Randolph dies.” MPRNews, 4 July 2016, www.mprnews.org/story/2016/07/04/toni.