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Friday, February 10, 2012

Read St. Louis 2012 Starts Soon!


Read St. Louis 2012 Starts Soon!
By Brad R. Cook

Here at The Writers’ Lens we love books and the people who read them! So, I want to take a moment to highlight a great program in St. Louis, because I love anything that encourages people to pick up a book.

Read St. Louis showcases books selected by the libraries from several distinct categories. The Libraries host events with each of the featured authors, along with a variety of programs, activities, and discussions designed around each book.

Read St. Louis was started in 2009 by the St. Louis County and St. Louis City Public Libraries as a community wide initiative to encourage St. Louisans to read great books and discuss them with others. As Read St. Louis states on their website, “At the core of the program is a belief that making reading fun, exciting and occasionally educational, will stimulate a passion for lifelong learning in all of us.” – I couldn’t agree more.

This year, the St. Charles City-County Library District has joined the program. This brings the total number of library branches across the metropolitan area to 49, and means the Read St. Louis program will reach over 800,000 card holders. – Wow, I had no idea there were so many.

Read St. Louis kicks off with an event on Saturday, March 24, 2012. Author, Anne Lamott will discuss her latest memoir "Some Assembly Required", at the St. Louis County Library Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh. The event begins at 7 p.m.

For 2012, Read St. Louis will feature six amazing authors.

Memoir: Anne Lamott, "Some Assembly Required: A Journal of My Son's First Son"

Teen Fiction: Antony John, "Thou Shalt Not Road Trip"

Non-Fiction: Isabel Wilkerson, "The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration"
Children's Non-Fiction: Deborah Hopkinson, "A Boy Called Dickens"

Fiction/New Voices: Teddy Wayne, "Kapitoil"

Distinguished Literary Achievement: Daniel Woodrell, "The Outlaw Album"

To learn all the dates, times, and locations for Read St. Louis events please
visit http://www.readstlouis.org/ but you’ll have to wait until after February 21, when they make the formal announcement to the media.

The St. Louis Public Library is currently celebrating its 100th Anniversary and was recently honored with second place in the library category of the 2011 America's Most Literate Cities, making it the seventh straight year that the St. Louis Public Library ranked as one of the top four libraries in the country. Read St. Louis is just one of the many reasons why, so check out
this remarkable program and the amazing libraries throughout this city – the downtown branch is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen – and if you don’t live in the St. Louis area, I encourage you to contact your local library and see if they can start a similar program. We could all read a little more, its good brain food!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks, Brad--I'm always amazed at how many wonderful writers we have in the St. Louis area. I'm a big library fan, and think this is a great thing for the libraries to do!

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  2. Kirkwood Public Library will sponsor a "One Book, One Kirkwood" community read this spring and summer as well. We are reading "The Coffins of Little Hope."

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