Nicholas A. Brown, COO for Communication and Outreach, Prince George’s County Memorial Library System The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System has significantly expanded multilingual access to its programs and services in recent years, with growing Spanish, Amharic, Tagalog, French, Yoruba, and Arabic-speaking populations. Nicholas will help you better understand the importance of an institutional commitment to multilingual access and present tactics that can be adapted to make your library more welcoming for non-English speakers.

ASL interpretation will be provided for this event “Filled with whimsy and warmth, the Lily and the Octopus author’s second novel centers on the complex relationship between a fledgling writer and his fabulous editor, the latter of whom becomes a mentor, friend, and maternal figure. Oh, and she happens to be Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, but that’s Mrs. Onassis to you.”—O, The Oprah Magazine NPR‘s Favorite Books of 2019 Southern Living‘s “25 Beach Reads Perfect for Summer” From the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus comes a novel about a struggling writer who gets his big break, with a little help from the most famous woman in America. After years of trying to make it as a writer in 1990s New York City, James Smale finally sells his novel to an editor at a major publishing house: none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Jackie–or Mrs. Onassis, as she’s known in the office–has fallen in love with James’s candidly autobiographical novel, one that exposes his own dysfunctional family. But when the book’s forthcoming publication threatens to unravel already fragile relationships, both within his family and with his partner, James finds that he can’t bring himself to finish the manuscript. Jackie and James develop an unexpected friendship, and she pushes him to write an authentic ending, encouraging him to head home to confront the truth about his relationship with his mother. Then a long-held family secret is revealed, and he realizes his editor may have had a larger plan that goes beyond the page… From the bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus comes a funny, poignant, and highly original novel about an author whose relationship with his very famous book editor will change him forever–both as a writer and as a son. About Steven Rowley Steven Rowley is the author of The Editor and the national bestseller Lily and the Octopus, which has been translated into nineteen languages. He has worked as a freelance writer, newspaper columnist, and screenwriter. Originally from Portland, Maine, Rowley is a graduate of Emerson College. He lives in Palm Springs, CA. Borrow "The Editor" from PGCMLS: Book: https://pgcmls.info ebook: https://pgcmls.overdrive.com/media/4172415 Buy the Book from East City Bookshop https://www.eastcitybookshop.com/book/9780525537984

Author Byron Lane is joined by Roswell Encina, Chief Communications Officer, Library of Congress, to discuss his hit debut novel, "A Star is Bored." "A Star is Bored is an absolute knockout. Riotously funny and wickedly tender." — Taylor Jenkins Reid, New York Times bestselling author of Daisy Jones and the Six People Magazine Best Book of Summer 2020 - Named a Must-Read Summer book by Town & Country - Named One of the 14 Best Books of Summer 2020 by Harper's Bazaar - One of Library Journal's 2020 "Titles to Watch" - One of the 30 Best Beach Reads According to Parade Magazine She needs an assistant. He needs a hero. A hilariously heartfelt novel influenced in part by the author’s time assisting Carrie Fisher. Charlie Besson is tense and sweating as he prepares for a wild job interview. His car is idling, like his life, outside the Hollywood mansion of Kathi Kannon, star of stage and screen and People magazine’s Worst Dressed list. She's an actress in need of assistance, and he's adrift and in need of a lifeline. Kathi is an icon, bestselling author, and award-winning movie star, most known for her role as Priestess Talara in a blockbuster sci-fi film. She’s also known in another role: Outrageous Hollywood royalty. Admittedly so. Famously so. Chaotically so, as Charlie quickly discovers. Charlie gets the job, and his three-year odyssey is filled with late-night shopping sprees, last-minute trips to see the aurora borealis, and an initiation to that most sacred of Hollywood tribes: the personal assistant. But Kathi becomes much more than a boss, and as their friendship grows Charlie must make a choice. Will he always be on the sidelines of life, assisting the great forces that be, or can he step into his own life's leading role? Laugh-out-loud funny, and searingly poignant, Byron Lane's A Star is Bored is a novel that, like the star at its center, is enchanting and joyous, heartbreaking and hopeful. Borrow from PGCMLS: https://pgcmls.overdrive.com Purchase a copy from Politics & Prose: https://www.politics-prose.com/book/9781250266491

The Prince George's County Memorial Library System proudly celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month. Learn more - https://www.pgcmls.info/hispanic-heritage

*EW's 50 Most Anticipated Books of 2020 *Lambda Literary's Most Anticipated LGBTQ Books of May 2020 *Salon's Best and boldest new must-read books for May *BookPage's "19 can’t-miss reads from independent publishers" *Garden & Gun's Best Books of May *Logo NewNowNext's “11 Queer Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Spring” *O Magazine's "31 LGBTQ Books That'll Change the Literary Landscape in 2020" *BookRiot's "Most Anticipated LGBTQ Books of 2020" Small-town Appalachia doesn't have a lot going for it, but it’s where Brian is from, where his family is, and where he’s chosen to return to die. Set in 1986, a year after Rock Hudson’s death brought the news of AIDS into living rooms and kitchens across America, Lambda Literary award-winning author Carter Sickels’s second novel shines light on an overlooked part of the epidemic, those men who returned to the rural communities and families who’d rejected them. Six short years after Brian Jackson moved to New York City in search of freedom and acceptance, AIDS has claimed his lover, his friends, and his future. With nothing left in New York but memories of death, Brian decides to write his mother a letter asking to come back to the place, and family, he was once so desperate to escape. The Prettiest Star is told in a chorus of voices: Brian’s mother Sharon; his fourteen-year-old sister, Jess, as she grapples with her brother’s mysterious return; and the video diaries Brian makes to document his final summer. Part Dog Years by Mark Doty and part Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, The Prettiest Star is an urgent story about the politics and fragility of the body, of sex and shame. Above all, Carter Sickels’s stunning novel explores the bounds of family and redemption. It is written at the far reaches of love and understanding, centering on the moments where those two forces stretch toward each other and sometimes touch. About Carter Sickels Carter Sickels is the author of the novel The Evening Hour. He is the recipient of the 2013 Lambda Literary Emerging Writer Award, and has been awarded scholarships to Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, VCCA, and the MacDowell Colony. His essays and fiction have appeared in various publications, including Guernica, Bellevue Literary Review, and BuzzFeed, and he is the editor of Untangling the Knot: Queer Voices on Marriage, Relationships & Identity. Carter is Assistant Professor of English at Eastern Kentucky University, where he teaches in the Bluegrass Writers Studio Low-Residency MFA program. Borrow from PGCMLS: https://catalog.pgcmls.info/polaris Order from Loyalty Bookstores: https://www.loyaltybookstores.com/book/9781938235627 Presented by the Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Prince George's County Human Relations Commission, Loyalty Bookstores, and Hub City Press

Obtenga más información sobre el plan estratégico 2021-2024 de la Biblioteca del condado de Prince George.

About "Don't Ask Me Where I'm From" First-generation American Latinx Liliana Cruz does what it takes to fit in at her new nearly all-white school. But when family secrets spill out and racism at school ramps up, she must decide what she believes in and take a stand. Jennifer De Leon is the author of "Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From" (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, 2020) and the editor of "Wise Latinas" (University of Nebraska Press). An Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Framingham State University, and a GrubStreet instructor and board member, she has published prose in over a dozen literary journals, including Ploughshares, Iowa Review, and Michigan Quarterly Review. Her essay collection, "White Space: Essays on Culture, Race, & Writing," is the recipient of the Juniper Prize and will be published by UMass Press in Spring 2021. She lives outside of Boston with her husband and two sons. Co-presented with the Prince George's County Human Relations Commission and Loyalty Bookstores. Borrow the book from PGCMLS: https://catalog.pgcmls.info/polaris/search/title.aspx?cn=1198607 Purchase the book from Loyalty Bookstores: https://www.loyaltybookstores.com/prince-georges-county-memorial-library-author-series

The Prince George's County Memorial LIbrary System and Prince George's County Human Relations Commission commemorate Rev. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday with a discussion of his legacy and its influence on contemporary efforts to end voter suppression against Black Americans. Featured speakers include Andrew Aydin, creator and co-author of the "March" series (with the late Rep. John Lewis), Andrea Blackman, Division Manager for Special Collections, Nashville Public Library (and curator of the Civil Rights Room), and Taos Wynn, a Georgia-based community organizer and director of Nonviolence 365 at The King Center. Supported in part by the Maryland Humanities launches the Voices and Votes Electoral Engagement Project, made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s “Why It Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation” initiative. After you watch the event, we ask that you participate in our audience survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VV017

Dr. Ina Park discusses her new book ("Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs"), which explores how sexually transmitted diseases have been hidden players in our lives for the whole of human history, with roles in everything from World War II to the growth of the Internet to The Bachelor. But despite their prominence, STDs have been shrouded in mystery and taboo for centuries, which begs the question: why do we know so little about them? Covering everything from AIDS to Zika, Park explores STDs on the cellular, individual, and population-level. She blends science and storytelling with historical tales, real life sexual escapades, and interviews with leading scientists―weaving in a healthy dose of hilarity along the way. Ina Park, MD, MS, is an associate professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, Medical Consultant at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of STD Prevention, and Medical Director of the California Prevention Training Center. She holds degrees from the University of California Berkeley, UCLA School of Medicine, and the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Recently, Park served as a co-author of the 2020 CDC STD Treatment Guidelines and contributor to the Department of Health and Human Services STI Federal Action Plan. A fierce advocate for public health, she lives in Berkeley, CA with her husband and two sons.