Howard County Library System’s author events are a key component of the HCLS curriculum. Notable, best-selling, and local authors provide customers with enlightening experiences throughout the year. Bringing the community together to celebrate the literary arts is a hallmark of HCLS customer service. Join us for these opportunities to meet one of your favorite authors or discover someone new!
There are 16 upcoming classes.
Veterans Book Group 2024 (virtual)
Date: 05/05/24Time: 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Branch: Online Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: Community Events
Description:
Veterans, both active and retired military, are invited to this online discussion series. During five monthly facilitated sessions, discussions center on military experiences and a unique set of readings, which may include classics, fiction, memoirs, poetry, short stories, articles, and essays. The readings relate in some way to military experiences or offer a veteran’s perspective.
Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions. Registration is open to veterans/active duty only, please.
All reading materials are provided. Space is limited.
1st Sundays; February 4 - June 2 from 1:30 - 3:00 pm. Online.
The Veterans Book Group is moderated by David Owens. David Owens is a Navy veteran who served for six years onboard two U.S. Navy warships. Owens attended the U.S. Naval Academy and now runs a small media content production business based in the D.C. metropolitan area. Owens loves to read and, even more so, enjoys the discussions and camaraderie of the veteran book groups!
The Veterans Book Group is coordinated statewide by Maryland Humanities and is presented locally in partnership with Howard County Library System. The Veterans Book Group is supported in part by the Wawa Foundation.
Reading Selections:
February 4: The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb by Sam Kean
March 3: The Healer's War: A Fantasy Novel of Vietnam by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
April 7: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: A Novel by Anthony Marra
May 5: My Life as a Foreign Country: A Memoir by Brian Turner
June 2: Suddenly We Didn't Want to Die: Memoirs of a World War I Marine by Elton Mackin
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. For any questions, please email [email protected].
Candlelight Concert Society Pre-Concert Lecture w/ Jonathan Palevsky
Date: 05/07/24Time: 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Branch: Central Branch
Age group: Adults, Everyone
Program type: Community Events
Description:
Join us at the library for an engaging pre-concert lecture by Jonathan Palevsky, the esteemed Program Director of WBJC, in anticipation of Candlelight's final concert of their 51st season featuring the GRAMMY-winning ensemble, the brilliant American wind quintet, Imani Winds. With a rich background in classical music and a deep connection to Baltimore's music scene since 1986, Palevsky brings a unique perspective to this event. He will explore the musical pieces that this acclaimed ensemble will perform. Their program, called 'De Memorias: A Latin Perspective,' is a vibrant collection of tunes infused with the Latin American spirit, with a title taken from the stunning work by celebrated Latina composer Tania León. Palevsky’s insights will undoubtedly enrich your concert experience, offering a deeper appreciation for the pieces you will hear. This session promises to be a captivating journey into the world of classical music, perfect for both enthusiasts and newcomers alike. For ticket information, please visit candlelightconcerts.org. or call (410) 997-2324.
Ticket Information: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=180945
Exclusive offer on group tickets available!"
What's On Your Shelf? Fiction and Nonfiction Book Chat
Date: 05/09/24Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Branch: Miller Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: Community Events
Description:
Share fiction and/or nonfiction titles that are on your bookshelf and we will share titles from our shelves. If you don't have a title to share, find inspiration in what others recommend and start building your reading list.
Readers also have the opportunity to ask for recommendations or to ask our instructors questions about books, reading, and the library. Previous discussion topics have included book donations, Little Free Libraries, and Goodreads (the world's largest website for readers and book recommendations).
Create a 'Zine w/J. Scott and Self Publish
Date: 05/09/24Time: 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Branch: Elkridge Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: DIY & Makerspace
Description:
Create and self publish your own independent magazine. Often referred to as a 'Zine, these DIY publications are created by folding paper into a booklet, and offer authors and artists a wide variety of content, style, and freedom when publishing. 'Zines are thought to be unrestrained and genuine by nature. They can focus on any and everything that the author/artist wants to. Some 'Zines are personal narratives, others are factual, some 'Zines are photography focused, others resemble comics. Ultimately, 'Zines are a DIY way of publishing with few limitations to content, style, or format.
Author Works-Yoga In the Black Community
Date: 05/11/24Time: 11:00am - 12:30pm
Branch: Miller Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: Health & Wellness
Description:
"Yoga in the Black Community: Healing Practices and Principles," authored by Charlene Marie Muhammad and Dr. Marilyn Peppers-Citizen, is a thought-provoking work that dives deep into the transformative power of yoga within the Black community, shedding light on the unique and enriching experiences, practices, and principles that have enriched the lives of many.
This discussion of the book delves into the history and cultural significance of yoga, offering a fresh perspective that highlights its relevance in the Black community's journey towards holistic well-being. A comparative alignment of the yoga philosophy principles to common cultural and religious practices in the Black community will be highlighted followed by a contemplative practice of yoga.
Charlene Marie Muhammad is a wellness practitioner, practicing yoga for over 30 years. Charlene holds a Master of Science Degree in Herbal Medicine from Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH) and is a licensed dietitian and certified yoga therapist. She and Marilyn are members of the Black Yoga Teachers Alliance Board of Directors.
Dr. Marilyn Peppers-Citizen is a certified yoga therapist, national board-certified health, and wellness coach, and is clinic faculty for the MUIH Master of Science in Yoga Therapy program. Marilyn has more than 35 years of military and business leadership experience in various senior-level capacities. She also studied holistic health and wellness and embraced yoga 26 years ago, studying multiple traditions. She is a retired Air Force Colonel and holds a Ph.D. in public policy and master’s degrees in business and national resource strategy.
Book signing to follow discussion.
Create a 'Zine and Self Publish w/ J. Scott
Date: 05/16/24Time: 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Branch: Elkridge Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: DIY & Makerspace
Description:
Create and self publish your own independent magazine. Often referred to as a 'Zine, these DIY publications are created by folding paper into a booklet, and offer authors and artists a wide variety of content, style, and freedom when publishing. 'Zines are thought to be unrestrained and genuine by nature. They can focus on any and everything that the author/artist wants to. Some 'Zines are personal narratives, others are factual, some 'Zines are photography focused, others resemble comics. Ultimately, 'Zines are a DIY way of publishing with few limitations to content, style, or format.
Taste the Tradition: Exploring Asian Cuisine with Chef Jet Tila (Online)
Date: 05/21/24Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Branch: Online Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: Race, Equity & Inclusion
Description:
Join us for an unforgettable evening celebrating AAPI Heritage Month with a special live online cooking demonstration and storytelling event featuring celebrity chef Jet Tila!
Embark on a delightful culinary journey as Chef Jet shares his personal story, culinary insights, and favorite recipes straight from his kitchen to yours. From traditional flavors to modern twists, immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of Asian cuisine and culture. Get ready to be inspired and tantalize your taste buds with his culinary expertise.
But wait, there's more! To ensure you have all the ingredients needed to cook along with Chef Jet Tila, we've arranged a special trip to H-Mart, located at 3301 North Ridge Rd. Ellicott City, Md. 21043, on May 20th, Monday, from 3-4pm. This exclusive tour is part of our ongoing monthly International Grocery Store Tour series, and it is NOT required to attend the online cooking demonstration event.
To register for the H-Mart tour click here.
Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to experience the flavors of AAPI heritage with Chef Jet Tila. Mark your calendars and join us for an unforgettable culinary journey!
Create a 'Zine and Self Publish w/ J. Scott
Date: 05/23/24Time: 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Branch: Elkridge Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: DIY & Makerspace
Description:
Create and self publish your own independent magazine. Often referred to as a 'Zine, these DIY publications are created by folding paper into a booklet, and offer authors and artists a wide variety of content, style, and freedom when publishing. 'Zines are thought to be unrestrained and genuine by nature. They can focus on any and everything that the author/artist wants to. Some 'Zines are personal narratives, others are factual, some 'Zines are photography focused, others resemble comics. Ultimately, 'Zines are a DIY way of publishing with few limitations to content, style, or format.
Miller's Windows & Mirrors Teen Book Club
Date: 05/25/24Time: 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Branch: Miller Branch
Age group: Miller's Windows & Mirrors Teen Book Club, Teens
Program type: Race, Equity & Inclusion
Description:
Ages 14-17 | Registration preferred | Pick up the book from Miller Branch's customer service desk* | Pizza included!
Windows allow us to experience other cultures, and mirrors reflect parts of our own. Read and discuss books from diverse viewpoints over pizza, in HCLS' Windows & Mirrors Book Club for Teens.
May book: Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Pérez. Prefer to listen? Try an audiobook for free with Libby.
*Books for this book club have been set aside for students who would like to attend the book club. Ask for one at Miller's customer service desk.
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Book description: "This is East Texas, and there's lines. Lines you cross, lines you don't cross. That clear?" New London, Texas, 1937. Naomi Vargas and Wash Fuller know about the lines in East Texas as well as anyone. They know the signs that mark them. They know the people who enforce them. But sometimes the attraction between two people is so powerful, it breaks through even the most entrenched color lines. And the consequences can be explosive. Ashley Hope Pérez takes the facts of the 1937 New London school explosion, the worst school disaster in American history, as a backdrop for a riveting novel about segregation, love, family, and the forces that destroy people." --Amazon."
Read more about the book here.
See other Windows & Mirrors Book Club events here.
Completion of the book is encouraged but NOT required.
FAM
Veterans Book Group 2024 (virtual)
Date: 06/02/24Time: 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Branch: Online Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: Community Events
Description:
Veterans, both active and retired military, are invited to this online discussion series. During five monthly facilitated sessions, discussions center on military experiences and a unique set of readings, which may include classics, fiction, memoirs, poetry, short stories, articles, and essays. The readings relate in some way to military experiences or offer a veteran’s perspective.
Participants are encouraged to attend all sessions. Registration is open to veterans/active duty only, please.
All reading materials are provided. Space is limited.
1st Sundays; February 4 - June 2 from 1:30 - 3:00 pm. Online.
The Veterans Book Group is moderated by David Owens. David Owens is a Navy veteran who served for six years onboard two U.S. Navy warships. Owens attended the U.S. Naval Academy and now runs a small media content production business based in the D.C. metropolitan area. Owens loves to read and, even more so, enjoys the discussions and camaraderie of the veteran book groups!
The Veterans Book Group is coordinated statewide by Maryland Humanities and is presented locally in partnership with Howard County Library System. The Veterans Book Group is supported in part by the Wawa Foundation.
Reading Selections:
February 4: The Bastard Brigade: The True Story of the Renegade Scientists and Spies Who Sabotaged the Nazi Atomic Bomb by Sam Kean
March 3: The Healer's War: A Fantasy Novel of Vietnam by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
April 7: A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: A Novel by Anthony Marra
May 5: My Life as a Foreign Country: A Memoir by Brian Turner
June 2: Suddenly We Didn't Want to Die: Memoirs of a World War I Marine by Elton Mackin
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. For any questions, please email [email protected].
Adult Summer Reading Showcase (Online)
Date: 06/04/24Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Branch: Online Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: Author & Literary Events
Description:
Looking for book recommendations to read this summer while on vacation, at the beach, camping or relaxing in the evenings?
Venture into adult summer reading, guided by an adventurous crew of HCLS Instructors.
Get live suggestions for fiction and nonfiction titles to read, explore the Adult Summer Reading 2024 list, discover how to participate in the summer reading competition, and learn about upcoming events.
Online.
Register to receive zoom link.
Tue Jun 4 7 pm
This class is part of our Summer Reading Adventures series! Click here to find a full schedule of classes and events.
Create a 'Zine and Self Publish w/ J. Scott
Date: 06/06/24Time: 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Branch: Elkridge Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: DIY & Makerspace
Description:
Create and self publish your own independent magazine. Often referred to as a 'Zine, these DIY publications are created by folding paper into a booklet, and offer authors and artists a wide variety of content, style, and freedom when publishing. 'Zines are thought to be unrestrained and genuine by nature. They can focus on any and everything that the author/artist wants to. Some 'Zines are personal narratives, others are factual, some 'Zines are photography focused, others resemble comics. Ultimately, 'Zines are a DIY way of publishing with few limitations to content, style, or format.
Create a 'Zine and Self Publish w/ J. Scott
Date: 06/13/24Time: 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Branch: Elkridge Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: DIY & Makerspace
Description:
Create and self publish your own independent magazine. Often referred to as a 'Zine, these DIY publications are created by folding paper into a booklet, and offer authors and artists a wide variety of content, style, and freedom when publishing. 'Zines are thought to be unrestrained and genuine by nature. They can focus on any and everything that the author/artist wants to. Some 'Zines are personal narratives, others are factual, some 'Zines are photography focused, others resemble comics. Ultimately, 'Zines are a DIY way of publishing with few limitations to content, style, or format.
Author Works: Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray
Date: 06/18/24Time: 7:00pm - 8:00pm
Branch: Miller Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: History & Genealogy
Description:
She took on titans, battled generals, and changed the world as we know it…
New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating and dramatic new novel about an American heroine Frances Perkins.
Raised on tales of her revolutionary ancestors, Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century, armed with her trusty parasol and an unyielding determination to make a difference.
When she’s not working with children in the crowded tenements in Hell’s Kitchen, Frances throws herself into the social scene in Greenwich Village, befriending an eclectic group of politicians, artists, and activists, including the millionaire socialite Mary Harriman Rumsey, the flirtatious budding author Sinclair Lewis, and the brilliant but troubled reformer Paul Wilson, with whom she falls deeply in love.
But when Frances meets a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt at a tea dance, sparks fly in all the wrong directions. She thinks he’s a rich, arrogant dilettante who gets by on a handsome face and a famous name. He thinks she’s a priggish bluestocking and insufferable do-gooder. Neither knows it yet, but over the next twenty years, they will form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House.
She was appointed the first female Cabinet member in United States history, serving as Secretary of Labor and paving the way for women to take on roles in government and eventually drafted the Social Security Act of 1935.
Stephanie Dray is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, & USA Today bestselling author of historical women’s fiction. Her award-winning work has been translated into eight languages and tops lists for the most anticipated reads of the year.
Please register with an email address to receive an immediate registration confirmation.
Create a 'Zine and Self Publish w/ J. Scott
Date: 06/27/24Time: 6:00pm - 8:30pm
Branch: Elkridge Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: DIY & Makerspace
Description:
Create and self publish your own independent magazine. Often referred to as a 'Zine, these DIY publications are created by folding paper into a booklet, and offer authors and artists a wide variety of content, style, and freedom when publishing. 'Zines are thought to be unrestrained and genuine by nature. They can focus on any and everything that the author/artist wants to. Some 'Zines are personal narratives, others are factual, some 'Zines are photography focused, others resemble comics. Ultimately, 'Zines are a DIY way of publishing with few limitations to content, style, or format.
Museum@TheLibrary: Highlights of the Washington National Cathedral (Online)
Date: 08/07/24Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Branch: Online Branch
Age group: Adults
Program type: History & Genealogy
Description:
The idea of a sacred home for all Americans in the nation’s capital is as old as the country itself.
Pierre L’Enfant’s original design for the new capital city included a “great church for national purposes,” an idea that sat idle until an 1893 congressional charter authorized a cathedral dedicated to religion, education and charity. Construction began in 1907, when President Theodore Roosevelt helped lay the foundation stone. Through world wars, the Great Depression and immense social change, construction ended exactly 83 years after it began, when President George H.W. Bush oversaw the laying of the final stone atop the towers, in 1990.
This virtual tour will share highlights of the interior of this magnificent Cathedral to include architecture, stained glass, stone carvings, and much more. The Washington National Cathedral is the site of the Inaugural Prayer Service for incoming U.S. Presidents and has hosted the funerals for Presidents Eisenhower, Reagan, Ford, and George H. W. Bush along with many memorial services to include John McCain and most recently Sandra Day O'Connor.
Image: The Space Window
Brief Bio:
Camille Hersh has been a Docent at the Washington National Cathedral since 2014. She leads Behind-the-Scenes tours, Highlights tours, and Tower Climbs and recently created a new tour on Cathedral Humor and Whimsy.
Camille also serves as a School Docent at the National Gallery of Art where she leads interactive tours for students from Pre-K through 12th grade. Camille retired as a senior executive from the Federal Government in 2014 and is originally from South Hadley Massachusetts.
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.