As part of a collaborative project with an art history teacher, I had the great privilege of taking high school students to conduct research at the Library of Congress. One of the most memorable moments of the day was the students’ discovery of primary sources and the wealth of materials available at the Library of Congress. Seeing actual artifacts brought their research topics to life—deepening their understanding and making history tangible and real.

The Library of Congress’ book series, Discover and Learn with the Library, co-published with ALA Editions, brings this experience to every learner. The first volume, The Civil Rights Movement, allows educators and learners to explore key documents from the era, tracing the movement from the Brown V. Board of Education decision to the March on Washington and the significant events in between.

The book opens with background information on several other pivotal moments, including Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Little Rock Nine, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. The rest of the book is dedicated to exploring primary resources related to each event and its aftermath. The end of the book offers generalized templates to help learners analyze different types of primary documents—maps, photographs, manuscripts, etc.—and links to additional resources at the Library of Congress.

Each event is summarized with historical context and impact, and accompanied by a curated collection of primary documents, which are accessible through both QR codes and printed reproductions in the book. Students can read Rosa Parks’ original writing, see newspaper accounts of an event, listen to an oral interview, and examine significant photographs of the time. Each event also includes multiple teaching ideas and thought-provoking questions that can be used to engage students.

It is captivating to pore over a participant manual from the March on Washington, to see newspapers of the day, and to read Rosa Parks’ handwritten notes. The experience is only hindered by occasional readability issues—either with the printed copy of the document or in the QR code’s digital content—but because both formats are provided, there was an accessible option that worked. Some of the resources are more easily understood and followed, while others require more knowledge and preparation, particularly the oral interviews which dig deep into the Library’s archive collection. Including material related to the Letter From Birmingham Jail—often taught in English classes—is valuable for students to gain meaningful background into how the letter was written and first published, which is a fascinating story. The section on the integration of schools in Little Rock is told with nuance and provides interesting detail, while the section on the Montgomery Bus Boycott offers a richer portrait of Rosa Parks than is typically presented of her story. The book is carefully designed to give students a sense of being eyewitness to some of the most important events in civil rights history and encourages them to ask questions and engage critically with the material.

The book is flexible for school library and classroom settings. Each section can be used alone or incorporated into a full lesson. Educators can display the digital images and use the accompanying questions to promote discussion and help students gain insight, while also teaching media literacy using the tools provided for analyzing primary resources The appendix, with its additional links, allows for even more exploration—students can go on their own “treasure hunt” through the Library of Congress’ digital archives and interact directly with documents from American history.

Overall, The Civil Rights Movement is an excellent addition to a teacher resource collection in the school library or as a recommendation for history or English educators in the classroom. Reflecting on my own students’ experiences, I’ve seen how using primary documents gives them a new vantage point. It lets them be self-directed explorers of history rather than passive recipients of class lecture or textbook knowledge. I look forward to the other volumes in this series that will be released, making the Library of Congress’s vast resources more accessible—beyond the walls of the building itself.