The Map to Black Love

This study examines the information behaviours of Black romance readers seeking books with Black character representation. With previous literature on systemic racism in romance publishing providing context for this study, the aim is to identify Black romance readers’ information-seeking habits. Racialized differences stemming from the publishing industry to the accessibility of these books create challenges that Black readers must navigate, thus producing differences in information behaviours. Therefore, this study provides insight into the underexplored subject of Black romance literature. The population of this research is Black romance readers who read for pleasure and consider themselves avid readers of Black romance novels. Using the methodology of a semi-structured interview followed by the drawing of an Information Horizon Map, interviews were conducted with three participants, yielding insightful results. An inductive thematic analysis of the findings produced four common themes: (1) in-depth searching practices, (2) customized cataloguing resources, (3) using covers as cues, and (4) community advisory. These findings demonstrate that Black readers are willing to conduct extensive search practices but do so with the help of other Black readers. Findings also display the dedication of readers in pursuing representative stories of Black love. Situating these findings within popular models of information behaviours, this study draws attention to a fascinating population that is understudied in library and information science literature.