ABOUT BLACKBOOKS
BlackBooks is a curated platform dedicated to celebrating and elevating Black literature, thought, and culture. We provide access to a collection of books by Black authors across genres, amplifying voices that have shaped and continue to shape the world.
Our mission is to build a space where readers, educators, and lifelong learners can discover, engage with, and support Black storytelling. From classic works to emerging voices, we highlight narratives that reflect the richness and complexity of the global Black experience.
As part of the Tranby Aboriginal Co-operative Limited (Tranby) community, Australia’s oldest Independent Indigenous education provider, we are committed to supporting Indigenous authors, scholars, and community-led storytelling. BlackBooks proudly embodies Tranby’s dedication to making positive change happen for our Mob. It was one of the first sites to promote and celebrate works by, for, and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, an essential part of our ongoing commitment to truth-telling, cultural preservation, and Indigenous empowerment.
At BlackBooks.online, we believe books are more than just stories, they are tools for self-determination, education, and connection.
Image details: Chris Kerr (on left) and Norelle Savage (right), then both students in the Advanced Diploma in Aboriginal Studies, the only course in which non-Indigenous students were enrolled. Seated is Tranby teacher, Robyn Bancroft. It was published in the Sun Herald, 30 May 2000, Courtesy Fairfax Archives.
OUR HISTORY
In mid-1982 a small bookshop was set up in the front room at Tranby, the first home for BlackBooks. The original logo was developed to represent the strength and importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices as written works.
The first BlackBooks catalogue was produced in 1983, with this logo featured, and was distributed to schools, organisations, communities and individuals across Australia. Our new logo represents the stand that we as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are taking in the Truth Telling that is vitally important to the future of Australia.
Read more about the history of BlackBooks.
ABOUT TRANBY
Welcome to BlackBooks.online a division of Tranby Aboriginal Co-operative Limited.
We are working to (re)establish BlackBooks across the Australian (Global) literary and publishing supply chain through a series of strategic interventions aimed at creating an eco-system of authority and expertise led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content creators, cultural producers, and community led development organisations.
Originally established in 1982, BlackBooks went into abeyance in the 1990s and re-launched in 2022 as a social enterprise with profits going into Aboriginal community-controlled education and community development programs.
About Our Logo
The BlackBooks logo is more than just a visual, it’s a legacy. In mid-1982, a small bookshop was set up in the front room at Tranby, marking the very first home of BlackBooks. From the beginning, the original logo was created to represent the strength and importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices as written works—bold, resilient, and enduring.
That logo featured proudly on the first BlackBooks catalogue in 1983, which was distributed to schools, organisations, communities, and individuals across Australia. It helped spark a national movement of knowledge-sharing, education, and cultural pride.
Today, our new logo builds on that powerful foundation. It reflects the stand we as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are taking in the ongoing process of Truth Telling, an act that is vitally important to the future of this country. It’s a modern symbol of cultural resilience, self-determination, and the written word as a tool for change.
BlackBooks continues to be a home for stories that matter, and our logo proudly carries that story forward.
