ORLANDO, Fla. — There’s the old saying, “never judge a book by its cover.” The cover of this story could certainly be judged as heroic.

What You Need To Know

  • Librarian of 30 years makes sure kids know the importance of Black History

  • Angela Hall and sorority sisters participated in African American Read-In

  • She says there's nothing better than being gifted a new book 

A librarian of 30 years went a step further to make sure kids know the importance of Black History.

Her name is Angela Hall, and she’s on a mission.

“We want the children to know that we care about this community. We want books in the hands of every child at this facility,” said Hall, who works at Valencia College, just one of many places where she has been a librarian in the last three decades.

The facility she’s talking about is the Boys and Girls Club near downtown Orlando. She’s working with her sorority sisters from Alpha Kappa Alpha as part of the sixth annual African American Read-in. Books are given to students, then the sisters read and sing with the kids. The regional director came up with what’s called The Black Book Brigade.

“That was the result of the Florida legislation banning some books in the schools. So we wanted to make sure our children still had access to those stories and to those books, so that’s where it started,” Hall said. “That’s why it’s important to know your history.”

In Angela’s mind, no matter what, no matter when, there’s nothing better than being gifted a new book to read and create your own world with.

“Make what I call your ‘mental movie’ because even as an adult reader, I tend to make my own mental movie, and what I think the characters should look like and sound like,” Hall said.

The Delta Omicron Omega chapter of the AKA was chartered in Orlando back in 1947. It’s the oldest Greek letter organization established by African American, college-educated women.