There are 9 upcoming classes.
The Failed Promise: Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass, and the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson (Online)
Date: 09/21/21Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Branch: Online Branch
Age group: Ages 19+ (Adults)
Program type: Racial Equity
Description:
Brilliantly spotlighting Douglass’s rhetorical strategies and mounting despair over the failure of Reconstruction, this trenchant study speaks clearly to today’s battles over voting rights and racial justice. - Publisher's Weekly
Robert S. Levine’s new book, The Failed Promise: Reconstruction, Frederick Douglass, and the Impeachment of Andrew Johnson, tells the story of Frederick Douglass’s heated struggle with President Andrew Johnson over the rights of Black Americans in the years immediately following the Civil War.
Levine recounts the conflicts that led to Johnson’s impeachment from the perspective of Douglass and the wider Black community. The great Black leader Douglass believed that the Union victory in the Civil War, aided by nearly 200,000 Black soldiers, meant that African Americans should gain the full rights of U.S. citizenship, including the right to vote. Sadly, Black Americans and other minorities are continuing to fight for such rights. Douglass’s struggle with Johnson speaks to the promise and failure of Reconstruction, and to the struggles of our own moment as well.
About Robert Levine
Robert S. Levine is Distinguished University Professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is the author and editor of a number of books, including The Lives of Frederick Douglass (Harvard University Press, 2016), and he is the General Editor of The Norton Anthology of American Literature, the world’s most widely used American literature anthology. He has won Guggenheim, NEH, and other grants; he is a long-time resident of Ellicott City. His website is go.umd.edu/robertslevine
This event is part of HCLS Racial Equity and Inclusion series.
BUY THE BOOK
Copies of this book can be purchased from our Bookstore partner, Books with a Past.
Please register with an email address to receive an immediate registration confirmation with a link to join the class/event. This email will also contain the dial-in information if you wish to participate by telephone.
Presented with support from Carroll County Public Library, Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County, and Worchester Public Library.
Warning Graphic Content (Online)
Date: 09/21/21Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Branch: Online Branch
Age group: Ages 19+ (Adults)
Program type: Racial Equity
Description:
Read and discuss a wide array of graphic novels. 3rd Tuesdays 7 - 8 pm.
Sept 21 Kill or be Killed (Vols. 1 -4) by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Please register with an email address to receive an immediate registration confirmation. You will receive the link to the online class in the confirmation email. This email will also contain as the dial-in information if you wish to participate by telephone.
Registered customers should place a hold request on the title using their library card in order to receive a copy to read before the discussion.
Availability of physical copies is not guaranteed.
HCLS 5-Star Showcase - free outdoor event!
Date: 10/02/21Time: 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Branch: East Columbia Branch
Age group: All Ages / Families
Program type: STEM / STEAM
Description:
Registration is FREE and open to the public!
Saturday, October 2
2 - 5 pm
HCLS East Columbia Branch
(Free on-site and overflow parking at Cradlerock School)
Let’s make new memories!
We are celebrating and you are invited. HCLS is a Five Star Library, as ranked by Library Journal for excellence, because of our services, initiatives, and most importantly - you!
Bring your family and friends, and meet us outdoors for a great time. We have fun activities and interactive experiences planned for your entire group!
Whether you want to give the 360° photo booth a spin, get hands-on with HiTech carnival games and flex your skills in a Ten80 race, grab a meal from a food truck to sit and take in tunes from the live DJ, enjoy a cozy storytime and kids crafts at our new Pop-up Library, or just relax in one of our outdoor lounges and connect with someone new, we can’t wait to see you there.
More to check out:
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adult spelling bee
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art gallery
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displays
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DIY demo
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family-friendly crafts
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giveaways
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kids' crafts
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selfie stations / photo-ops
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and more!
Register for FREE right here!
*You can start your fun early at Community Circles, a catered boxed lunch and discussion featuring Trent Day Hall, from the Howard County Office of Human Rights and Equity, to celebrate five years at the Longest Table.
For tickets and more info, click here.
Your Guide to Masking
Learn more about masking on the CDC ‘s website
Book Club Revue: Reunion (Online)
Date: 10/05/21Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Branch: Online Branch
Age group: Ages 19+ (Adults)
Program type: Racial Equity
Description:
Reunited, and it feels so good!
Join us online for a celebratory return to our annual Book Club Revue. Get HCLS' "Books for Discussion 2022" list as we promote some of the year's most discussable works of fiction and nonfiction. Get tips to optimize your discussions. Learn about upcoming events. Door prizes.
Please register with an email address to receive an immediate registration confirmation with a link to join the class/event. This email will also contain the dial-in information if you wish to participate by telephone.
Dr. Tiffany Manuel: The Case Made for Affordable Housing (Online)
Date: 10/13/21Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Branch: Online Branch
Age group: Ages 19+ (Adults)
Program type: Racial Equity
Description:
Howard County Library System and Horizon Foundation are partnering on a multipart series, Racial Equity and Local Action, focusing on the importance of racial equity in Health, Education and Housing, and how communities can act and be involved in change at the local level. In this installment of the series, we hear from Dr. Tiffany Manuel on how to strategically communicate when advocating for affordable housing - with lessons that apply to advocacy on many equity topics.
In this virtual presentation, Dr. Tiffany Manuel discusses proven strategies for advancing housing issues taken from hundreds of housing campaigns across the country. It can often be difficult to convey the importance of housing and to build public support for investing in the housing needs of those in our communities. However, in a time of budget cuts related to housing and the increased need to build more housing to address affordability issues, it is more important than ever that community members and housing professionals have a strong and persuasive message to share.
Dr. Manuel will provide an overview of how we can think about housing as an issue area; explain how and why some of our messaging is backfiring; and help us think through what language will help elevate our work. She also addresses how we can counter the thorny challenges of community opposition to affordable housing.
Q&A and discussion of affordable housing and racial equity follows the presentation.
ABOUT DR. TIFFANY MANUEL
DrT (as she prefers to be called) is a dynamic speaker, best-selling author and the President and CEO of TheCaseMade, an organization dedicated to helping leaders powerfully and intentionally make the case for systems change.
In her role at TheCaseMade, DrT works with hundreds of passionate social changemakers, innovators and adaptive leaders around the United States who are building better, stronger communities that are diverse, equitable and inclusive. By aligning their community stakeholders around the kind of deep systems changes that can improve population outcomes, these leaders are able to grow their impact, scale their programs, and harness the investments they need to improve their communities.
DrT grew up in Detroit, Michigan during one of the most turbulent times in the city’s history. It was because of the challenges of that experience that she champions better policy, programs, investments and services that can transform our cities and communities for the better. It is also the reason that DrT has worked to expand opportunity, equity and inclusion through 25+ years of professional and volunteer experience spanning the private and non-profit sectors, government and academia. Trained as a social scientist in quantitative and qualitative methods, she is a self-professed “data, policy, and messaging wonk!” She is passionate about translating the insights harvested from her research and practice to improve our ability to build public will around the critical issues that matter most. She holds doctorate and master’s degrees in public policy from the University of Massachusetts Boston, a master’s degree in political science from Purdue University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago. DrT has served on numerous nonprofits and social-impact boards and is a lifetime member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, an African American public service sorority.
| Please register with an email address to receive an immediate registration confirmation with a link to join the class/event. This email will also contain the dial-in information if you wish to participate by telephone. |
Author Works: Adbi Nor Iftin - Call Me American (In-Person)
Date: 10/16/21Time: 10:30am - 12:30pm
Branch: East Columbia Branch
Age group: Ages 19+ (Adults)
Program type: Racial Equity
Description:
“A searing memoir…that impressively remains upbeat, highly inspiring, and always educational.”
—Kirkus (Starred Review)
Acclaimed author Abdi Nor Iftin discusses the stories of survival and resilience found in his memoir Call Me American.
Born in Mogadishu to nomadic parents, Abdi Nor Iftin survived famine, war, and child soldiering. Thanks to the movies available to him, he taught himself English by watching American action films. By repeating and imitating the carefree actors, he earned himself the nickname “Abdi American”. Through guerrilla journalism, Abdi dispatched stories about his life to a series titled Messages From Mogadishu on American Public Media. His stories were short listed for Peabody Awards in 2016. These stories were later picked by NPR, the BBC and later This America.
After surviving a bombing at his house one evening in 2009, Abdi finally said goodbye to his home country and moved to Kenya where he and his brother lived as refugees. In an amazing stroke of luck, he won entrance to the U.S. in August 2014, in the annual visa lottery, though his route to America did not come easily.
Abdi Nor Iftin is a bestselling and award-winning author based in the state of Maine. Featured on CNN, NPR, NYT, Washington Post, The Boston Globe. Abdi is an advocate for refugee and immigrant rights. He is dedicated to bringing people together through his stories of survival and resilience. He is currently working on a documentary based on his memoir Call Me American.
The in-person event will include a book signing. Books available to purchase at the event. Refreshments offered.
This virtual event is part of the Brave Voices Brave Choices series, presented by Howard County Library System and sponsored by Muslim Family Center - Howard County, MD and RIVUS Consulting, Howard County, MD
Please register with an email address to receive an immediate registration confirmation.
This event will also be broadcast via Zoom. To register for the online option, click here.
Diversity Day Book Group: Discuss Homeland Elegies (In-Person)
Date: 10/26/21Time: 6:30pm - 7:45pm
Branch: Central Branch
Age group: Ages 19+ (Adults)
Program type: Racial Equity
Description:
In celebration of National Diversity Awareness Month, the Howard County Office of Human Rights & Equity is partnering with the Howard County Library System to host a book discussion series. The goal of this discussion series is to explore and facilitate multiple conversations around race, belonging, immigration, dispossession, and the lived experience of the socially invisible through narrative.
Join us at HCLS Central Branch as we discuss Ayad Ahktar’s Homeland Elegies.
Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
A deeply personal work about identity and belonging in a nation coming apart at the seams, Homeland Elegies blends fact and fiction to tell an epic story of longing and dispossession in the world that 9/11 made. Part family drama, part social essay, part picaresque novel, at its heart it is the story of a father, a son, and the country they both call home.
Join us at HCLS Central Branch as we discuss Ayad Ahktar’s Homeland Elegies.
Registered customers should place a hold request on the title using their library card in order to receive a copy to read before the discussion. Availability of books is not guaranteed. Place Hold.
This series is comprised of three simultaneous events. Pick the discussion you wish to attend. There is separate registration for each discussion.
October 26: 6:30 - 7:45 pm - Discuss Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar @ HCLS, Central Branch IN-PERSON Register
October 26: 6:30 - 7:45 pm - Discuss On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong @ HCLS, Miller Branch IN-PERSON Register
October 26: 6:30 - 7:45 pm - Discuss movie Just Mercy based on the book by Bryan Stevenson ONLINE Register
This event is part of the Brave Voices Brave Choices series.
Diversity Day Book Group: Discuss On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (In-Person)
Date: 10/26/21Time: 6:30pm - 7:45pm
Branch: Miller Branch
Age group: Ages 19+ (Adults)
Program type: Racial Equity
Description:
In celebration of National Diversity Awareness Month, the Howard County Office of Human Rights & Equity is partnering with the Howard County Library System to host a book discussion series. The goal of this discussion series is to explore and facilitate multiple conversations around race, belonging, immigration, dispossession, and the lived experience of the socially invisible through narrative.
Join us at the Miller Branch to discuss On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
This novel is written as a letter from son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born - a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam - and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation.
Join us at HCLS, Miller Branch as we discuss Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous.
Registered customers should place a hold request on the title using their library card in order to receive a copy to read before the discussion. Availability of books is not guaranteed. Place Hold.
This series is comprised of three simultaneous events. Pick the discussion you wish to attend. There is separate registration for each discussion.
October 26: 6:30 - 7:45 pm - Discuss Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar @ HCLS, Central Branch IN-PERSON Register
October 26: 6:30 - 7:45 pm - Discuss On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong @ HCLS, Miller Branch IN-PERSON Register
October 26: 6:30 - 7:45 pm - Discuss movie Just Mercy based on the book by Bryan Stevenson ONLINE Register
This event is part of the Brave Voices Brave Choices series.
Diversity Day Group: Discuss the movie Just Mercy (Online)
Date: 10/26/21Time: 6:30pm - 7:45pm
Branch: Online Branch
Age group: Ages 19+ (Adults)
Program type: Racial Equity
Description:
In celebration of National Diversity Awareness Month, the Howard County Office of Human Rights & Equity is partnering with the Howard County Library System to host a book discussion series. The goal of this discussion series is to explore and facilitate multiple conversations around race, belonging, immigration, dispossession, and the lived experience of the socially invisible through narrative.
Watch the film Just Mercy based on the book by Bryan Stevenson on your own schedule, then join us for a group discussion. This session will meet online via Zoom. Please register with an email address to receive an immediate registration confirmation with a link to join the discussion. This email will also contain the dial-in information if you wish to participate by telephone.
Just Mercy
After graduating from Harvard, Bryan Stevenson heads to Alabama to defend those who are wrongly condemned or those not afforded proper representation. One of his first cases is that of Walter McMillian, who is sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite evidence proving his innocence. In the years that follow, Stevenson encounters racism and legal and political maneuverings as he tirelessly fights for McMillian's life.
Registered customers should place a hold request on the DVD title using their library card in order to receive a copy to watch before the discussion. Availability of books/DVD is not guaranteed. Place Hold.
This series is comprised of three simultaneous events. Pick the discussion you wish to attend. There is separate registration for each discussion.
October 26: 6:30 - 7:45 pm - Discuss Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar @ HCLS, Central Branch IN-PERSON Register
October 26: 6:30 - 7:45 pm - Discuss On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong @ HCLS, Miller Branch IN-PERSON Register
October 26: 6:30 - 7:45 pm - Discuss movie Just Mercy based on the book by Bryan Stevenson ONLINE Register
This event is part of the Brave Voices Brave Choices series.
