Celebrate National Library Week with The Big Library Read!

It's National Library Week, and what better way to feel the library love than by joining an international celebration of reading? The Big Library Read is the world's largest digital book club, with over 20,000 libraries participating, including Algonquin Area Public Library District.

Taking part is easy. Between April 4 -18, use the Libby digital library app to download the spring selection, Music Is History by Questlove, with no holds and no waits. After reading, check out the discussion questions here, and share your thoughts on the discussion board. Post about the book on social media using #biglibraryread, and you'll be entered into a drawing to win Apple AirPods Pro.

 

Music Is History combines Questlove’s deep musical expertise with his curiosity about history, examining America over the past fifty years.

Focusing on the years 1971 to the present, Questlove finds the hidden connections in the American tapestry, whether investigating how the blaxploitation era reshaped Black identity or considering the way disco took an assembly-line approach to Black genius. And these critical inquiries are complemented by his own memories as a music fan, and the way his appetite for pop culture taught him about America. A history of the last half-century and an intimate conversation with one of music’s most influential and original voices, Music Is History is a singular look at contemporary America.

Photo by Daniel Dorsa

Questlove is known to television audiences as the Musical Director for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He is co-founder of the groundbreaking Philadelphia hip-hop band The Roots, which also serves as the Tonight Show house band.  He made his directorial debut with the Academy Award winning feature documentary Summer of Soul. A drummer, DJ, producer, culinary entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author, he is set to direct the upcoming feature documentary on Sly Stone.