Ahead of this year’s U.S. Book Show, held at the New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem, take a tour of some of Harlem’s literary bastions, including one of the nation’s premier research libraries, the historical home of a trailblazing writer, and two mission-driven indie bookstores uplifting readers of all ages. You’ll want to get an excursion to one (or more) of these bookish destinations, well, on the books!


Apollo Theater

253 West 125th Street

@apollotheater

Since the 1930s, the Apollo has served as a beacon for Black music, theater, and culture, and today it operates as a nonprofit focused on nurturing the arts in Harlem. Through its Apollo New Works initiative, the theater supports the creation of new work by Black artists—including an operatic adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Kindred and a musical tribute to the writing of bell hooks—and last year it honored author Ta-Nehisi Coates as its inaugural master artist-in-residence.

The City College of New York

160 Convent Avenue

@‌ccnycitycollege

Founded in 1847, CCNY was the first free public institution of higher education in the U.S. Its Gothic–style campus in Harlem’s Manhattanville neighborhood boasts a history of student activism and churned out a number of influential literary alumni, including authors Vivian Gornick, Bernard Malamud, Walter Mosley, Mario Puzo, and Upton Sinclair, as well as children’s book author-illustrator
and artist Faith Ringgold.

Grandma’s Place

84 West 120th Street

@‌grandmasplaceharlem

In 1999, New York City school teacher Dawn Harris Martine founded a small literacy center in Harlem to teach parents and children how to read, manning the center in her after-school hours. Today, Grandma’s Place—still operated by Martine, who is 85—has evolved into a beloved children’s bookstore, offering diverse titles as well as educational toys, and remains a literary haven for young readers.


The Langston Hughes House

20 East 127th Street

@thelangstonhugheshouse

Poet and writer Langston Hughes, a towering figure of the Harlem Renaissance, lived on the top floor of this historic brownstone row house from 1947 until his death in 1967. It was in this house, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, that Hughes penned some of his most famous works, including “Montage of a Dream Deferred” and “I Wonder as I Wander.”


Revolution Books

437 Malcolm X Boulevard

@revbooksnyc

This radical nonprofit bookstore, which was established in 1978 and relocated from Chelsea to Harlem in 2015, offers an array of titles from around the globe, from political polemics to dystopian novels to poetry in translation. Over the past decade, the store has quickly established itself as an intellectual and community hub, hosting book clubs, lectures, poetry nights, and more.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

515 Malcolm X Boulevard

@schomburgcenter

With a collection of more than 11 million cultural objects, this outpost of the New York Public Library—named after Harlem Renaissance–era intellectual and book collector Arturo Alfonso Schomburg—is devoted to the research, preservation, and exhibition of Black history, art, and experience. The center celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, and is marking the occasion with an array of programming, including a book festival and a retrospective exhibition.