I Dream Library

02/27/2026

1 mission 2 Days & 3 bins of DIVERSE BOOKS ready to go!

Final days of the 100th Black History Month and 2 days to purchase this I Dream Library Collection.

Don’t be passive!

LITERACY IS CIVIL RIGHTS WORK!
LIBRARIES ARE CIVIL RIGHTS WORK!
ACCESS TO OUR HISTORY IS CIVIL RIGHTS WORK!

We have a literal education and critical thinking crisis along with rising, well organized, facism, misogyny, racism, transphobia, xenophobia, etc, etc..

Today 👏🏽 share 👏🏽 with 👏🏽 those 👏🏽 you 👏🏽 know 👏🏽 need 👏🏽 representation 👏🏽 in 👏🏽 their 👏🏽 space 👏🏽

Thank youuuu!!

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BOOKS:
270 in TOTAL
- early readers, board books, picture books (hard cover + soft cover), graphic novels, (art)exhibit books, Middle Grade / early chapter books, novels, memoirs, teaching resource books
- Many new and some gently read (part of exhibit libraries)

LANGUAGES:
primary language and bilingual language books - English, Spanish, French, and (Turtle Island) Indigenous languages: Cree, Inuktitut, Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe)

DIVERSITY:
Black history + identity, Indigenous history + identity, colonial history, Asian history + identity q***r, trans, and feminist history and identity are intersectionally represented with disability (justice - DJ, + Transformative Justice - TJ), neurodiversity, mad and chronically ill, residential schools, migration, refugees, Two Spirit + Indigiq***r, multi-racial / multi-ethnic / multi-cultural identity and lived experience, Jewish history in Canada, Islam, Sikhi, Hindu traditions, Christianity, Indigenous spiritual + cultural traditions, teachings + worldview + activism, art, play, place

02/26/2026

02/06/2026

BRING idreamlibrary.com BACK ONLINE! This is not the time for performative community theory or platitudes delivered in condolence - it’s the time for COLLECTIVE ACTION to support a 7+ year commitment to breaking down the gatekeeping of 2SQTI/BIPoC representation in public education spaces.

We have survived bans, censorship, protest, propaganda, legal threats, community apathy and collective actions to END our work of

We have also mobilized community across sectors, travelled and taught our pedagogy, created new learning spaces with the allyship of brave individuals inside institutions.

Dream beyond this moment, this life, or this century.

1. 🔗 in bio to our GoFundMe
2. Collaborate to donate our irl library collection
3. Purchase pieces from our archive - mentioned in previous posts + reels
4. Become a patron of liberatory arts and education - tax benefits may be available.

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idreamlibrary.com is offline! TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE - we need more eyes and ears on this work + the ask to fund it. Please contribute + share!

This fundraiser launched in July 2024 to sustain and grow the capacity of a QTBIPoC family founded library dedicated to liberation through education locally and globally. At that time we were experiencing the impact of divestment in DEI. In the 18 months our campaign has been live, just over 15K has been raised toward our 250K goal. This means we do not have anywhere near the funding needed to keep the digital or irl library going.

The in-person library closed in January 2026, and the digital archive idreamlibrary.com has been offline since January 2026 as well. We still have a short amount of time before 100’s of pages of this Globally Free collection - of books, film, interviews, artwork, exhibits, rare documents and teaching resources - disappears all together!

Thank you for your support in the continued effort to expand access to literary 2SQTI/BIPoC disabled, mad, and neurodivergent representation that teachers and students have, locally and globally.

Your name will be added to our wall of thanks, once / if the website is comes back online.

Aisha + Rakim,
I Dream Library

02/05/2026

From our collection : 270 New + gently read titles ready to go to a school library in need!

1. In the comments - nominate yourself or another school library who wants 2SQTBIPoC stories for all ages!

2. In the comments - nominate a donor / or nominate yourself to buy the set and send these books to the school in need!

3. Share this post!

I Dream Library partnering with a school library in need and a donor to purchase this all ages collection, funds the return of idreamlibrary.com a digital archive / library of video, film, art, books, exhibitions and teaching resources.

02/05/2026

Want to support a QTBIPoC founded Library dedicated to Liberation?

NOW IS THE TIME

1. We have a GoFundMe linked in our bio - give on your own or find a group of friends to match your donation and get us closer to the goal.

2. DM to buy these decks - decks from our exhibit archive, used to teach community of all ages the importance of Indigenous & Canadian history - and the globally connected oppressions of imperialism, chattel slavery, environmental racism, genocide and caste / class / race social architecture. Also - support this organization and the continued success of founder Michael Langan - entrepreneur + educator.

3. Get in touch to book a presentation, build a library, or buy resources to support your organization, community, home + classrooms.

01/29/2026

We have 3 bins of books ready to send / sell to friends, teachers, librarians, parents, community workers, and organizations who want their $$ to support QTBIPOC stories!

Vancouver Canada based company I Dream Library has dedicated 7 years to providing FREE global access through a digital archive, that is now offline. To get us back up and running we are inviting our community to show up / put your order in by Jan 31st, 2026.

3 bins of books that must go by the end of this month! New & used books - bulk orders of 10 + titles receive an extra discount. But remember, this is funding radical action QTBIPoC history, education, art, and more - this is not a garage sale! So be respectful with your offers.

SALE BEGINS 9AM JAN 31 at a private location in Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood.

DM TO ATTEND / ORDER before Jan 31!

01/27/2026

This month we had to close I Dream Library HQ for lack of funding, and the free digital library that serves thousands of students teachers and parents in over 50 countries is offline for the same reason. In the past I haven’t spoken about these moments, but this year …

Being a change maker has its seasons, and operating an education company critical of institutions who silence, ban and erase public dissent within their walls, is wildly unpopular in our home city of Vancouver CA that still needs 2SIQ/QTBIPoC to to be “grateful for the opportunities” to be heard + humanized.

So, having our own space to teach, create, and research is freedom. We thank you for those who visited and were a part of making art, education, and change with us at the library this past year.

If you believe in our work and our dream at this moment in history, then we ask you to contribute to our GoFundMe which has raised 15K+ toward our 250K goal over 18 months.

To add to this effort, we are fundraising through sales of items from our library and archives. It’s not what we want to do, but what we have to do to stay in service. And to release these pieces to people who value them will be the balm. STAY TUNED to our stories + here for more.

We welcome 2026 with an unapologetic commitment to a Dream of a Library that survives.

12/30/2025

Our year end call to action!! 100 to gift $100 to keep open one of Canada’s most dynamic independent libraries amplifying 2SQTI/BIPoC stories.

I Dream Library offers accessible ways to find, share, and teach diverse stories through print, art, film, and interview/lecture from 2SQTI/BIPoC storytellers across place and time.

We are not funded by grants, loans, or government contracts, banks or foundations, venture capitalists or angel investors, tech, literary or post secondary institutions. This library survives by the will of its founders, and YOU!

❤️Get in touch / Give today @ the link in our bio
❤️Share + Tag an in the comments
❤️Help us reach our GoFundMe goal by December 31st
❤️Add your name to our Wall of Thanks

________

I Dream Library is an award winning contemporary education platform creating access to diverse stories in schools, galleries and museums around the world. Founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2019 by Aisha Kiani and their son Rakim as a response to banned books, the organization’s first offering was a globally accessible digital archive and teaching resource for K-12 classrooms. Today, along with the digital library, our education center serves as a research and reference library supporting archival practice, workshops, exhibits, and community-building initiatives.

Building in public, with the public, shows the transformative power of libraries anywhere and everywhere. We believe the library is a cultural touchstone for liberation: a space where ideas are constantly being rediscovered, reimagined, and reinterpreted. In partnership with organizations and advocates, we amplify the role of libraries and archives in social justice movements, public education, and cultural (re)formation.

Recent library projects have been commissioned by, and exhibited in, the Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of Vancouver, Arts Umbrella, Museum and Archives of North Vancouver, Richmond Art Gallery, Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver Public Library, CUPE BC, Bentall Gallery, and more. With your support we can continue offering self-directed and collaborative opportunities for critical education, creative exchange and collective imagination.

12/30/2025

This end of the year fundraising push invites 100 artists to gift $100 toward one of Canada’s most dynamic independent libraries amplifying 2SQTI/BIPoC stories.

I Dream Library offers and accessible way to find, share, and teach diverse stories through print, art, film, and interview/lecture from 2SQTI/BIPoC storytellers across place and time.

❤️Get in touch / Give today @ the link in our bio
❤️Share + Tag an in the comments
❤️Help us reach our GoFundMe goal by December 31st
❤️Add your name to our Wall of Thanks

________

I Dream Library is an award winning contemporary education platform creating access to diverse stories in schools, galleries and museums around the world. Founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2019 by Aisha Kiani and their son Rakim as a response to banned books, the organization’s first offering was a globally accessible digital archive and teaching resource for K-12 classrooms. Today, along with the digital library, our education center serves as a research and reference library supporting archival practice, workshops, exhibits, and community-building initiatives.

Building in public, with the public, shows the transformative power of libraries anywhere and everywhere. We believe the library is a cultural touchstone for liberation: a space where ideas are constantly being rediscovered, reimagined, and reinterpreted. In partnership with organizations and advocates, we amplify the role of libraries and archives in social justice movements, public education, and cultural (re)formation.

Recent library projects have been commissioned by, and exhibited in, the Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of Vancouver, Arts Umbrella, Museum and Archives of North Vancouver, Richmond Art Gallery, Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver Public Library, CUPE BC, Bentall Gallery, and more. With your support we can continue offering self-directed and collaborative opportunities for critical education, creative exchange and collective imagination.

12/29/2025

This end of the year fundraising push invites 100 teachers to gift $100 toward one of Canada’s most dynamic independent libraries amplifying 2SQTI/BIPoC stories.

We built this library for you! An accessible way to find, share, and teach diverse stories through print, art, film, and interview/lecture from 2SQTI/BIPoC storytellers across place and time.

❤️Get in touch / Give today @ the link in our bio
❤️Share + Tag a in the comments
❤️Help us reach our GoFundMe goal by December 31st
❤️Add your name to our Wall of Thanks

________

I Dream Library is an award winning contemporary education platform creating access to diverse stories in schools, galleries and museums around the world. Founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2019 by Aisha Kiani and their son Rakim as a response to banned books, the organization’s first offering was a globally accessible digital archive and teaching resource for K-12 classrooms. Today, along with the digital library, our education center serves as a research and reference library supporting archival practice, workshops, exhibits, and community-building initiatives.

Building in public, with the public, shows the transformative power of libraries anywhere and everywhere. We believe the library is a cultural touchstone for liberation: a space where ideas are constantly being rediscovered, reimagined, and reinterpreted. In partnership with organizations and advocates, we amplify the role of libraries and archives in social justice movements, public education, and cultural (re)formation.

Recent library projects have been commissioned by, and exhibited in, the Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of Vancouver, Arts Umbrella, Museum and Archives of North Vancouver, Richmond Art Gallery, Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver Public Library, CUPE BC, Bentall Gallery, and more. With your support we can continue offering self-directed and collaborative opportunities for critical education, creative exchange and collective imagination.

12/22/2025

This holiday season we’re calling in 100 bookstores to gift $500 toward one of Canada’s most dynamic libraries amplifying 2SQTI/BIPoC stories.


❤️Get in touch / Give today @ the link in our bio
❤️Share + Tag a in the comments
❤️Help us reach our GoFundMe goal by December 31st
❤️Add your name to our Wall of Thanks

________

I Dream Library is an award winning contemporary education platform creating access to diverse stories in schools, galleries and museums around the world. Founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2019 by Aisha Kiani and their son Rakim as a response to banned books, the organization’s first offering was a globally accessible digital archive and teaching resource for K-12 classrooms. Today, along with the digital library, our education center serves as a research and reference library supporting archival practice, workshops, exhibits, and community-building initiatives.

Building in public, with the public, shows the transformative power of libraries anywhere and everywhere. We believe the library is a cultural touchstone for liberation: a space where ideas are constantly being rediscovered, reimagined, and reinterpreted. In partnership with organizations and advocates, we amplify the role of libraries and archives in social justice movements, public education, and cultural (re)formation.

Recent library projects have been commissioned by, and exhibited in, the Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of Vancouver, Arts Umbrella, Museum and Archives of North Vancouver, Richmond Art Gallery, Artspeak Gallery, Vancouver Public Library, CUPE BC, Bentall Gallery, and more. With your support we can continue offering self-directed and collaborative opportunities for critical education, creative exchange and collective imagination.

12/06/2025

BLACK IS A COLOR

truly disappointing 2026 colour reveal & further description of space, serenity, imagination, and divergent thinking, and transformation as inherent to the color white, in an era of unapologetic “imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy” (bell hooks)

I Dream Library response - 2026 colour of the year // CHROMATIC BLACK - primordial, cosmic, convergent, transformative, revolutionary

Reference and lineage of chromatic black in art history :

Shown here:

Slide 1 : Black Painting, 2003-2006,

Acrylic on fiberglass. 72 × 108 in. (182.9 × 274.3 cm). Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland Photo: Ron Amstutz Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland.

‘ “Black Painting” (2003-06), is dedicated to Fred Hampton, the former chairman of the Illinois branch of the Black Panther Party who was brutally murdered by police officers while his pregnant wife slept beside him. Hampton was only twenty-one years old. To bring global awareness to the brutality of the CPD’s actions, activists led ‘people tours’ of the crime scene. The tours of the apartment quickly revealed that there was no probable cause to illicit the excessive force. The officers were the only shooters and the victims were an unarmed sleeping man and woman.

In “Black Painting,” Marshall offers a night rendering of Hampton’s bedroom, a blue-black space subtlety illuminated by the white of posters and books. The piece is incredibly immersive; the heavy use of black forces viewers to adjust their eyes to see the details in the bedroom. A pyramid and copy of Angela Y. Davis’ autobiography rest on the nightstand. A Black Panther Party flag glows on the wall. The bare back of a woman arches towards the opposite side of the bed. No one else is visible.“ -

Slide 2 : Akua Njeri & | 1971

Slide 3 + 4 : Kerry James Marshall Interview: Paint it Black | 2014

Slide 5 : Cloud Dancer, Pantone 2026 color of the year

Slide 6 : American Progress, John Gast | 1872
Promotional artwork for US settler expansion as a natural right under ‘Manifest Destiny’.

Slide 7: Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison