This month, you have the chance to meet a buzzed-about debut author and an award-winning graphic novelist in our popular Lit Chat Interview series. Or, you can make your first self-published zine or learn how to format any work for print with our Writer's Lab Workshop series. Plus, there are 15 Library Book Club meetings, Life Lit gardening and small business workshops, and more!
The Main Library is proud to host the third annual Duval Comic and Zine Fest in downtown Jacksonville on Saturday, June 15, from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. A celebration of independent publishing featuring local creators of self-published zines, comics, alternative press, and DIY media, the event will feature over 50 tablers, a risograph printing activity, a Writer's Lab workshop, and a Lit Chat with graphic novelist Nate Powell. The event is and all programs are free to attend!
Nate Powell is a National Book Award-winning cartoonist who began self-publishing as an Arkansas teenager in 1992. His work includes the new graphic novel Fall Through and a new comics adaptation of James Loewen’s influential Lies My Teacher Told Me, as well as Save It For Later, civil rights icon John Lewis’s March trilogy, Come Again, Two Dead and more.
Whether you hand-make every book or create your work digitally, you will get information, tutorials, and resources that will help you organize and format your project for print at our next free Writer's Lab workshop. Thony Aiuppy will teach you some of the tips, tricks, and formatting hacks he has learned over the last decade of making zines, comics, and graphic novels.
Rainbow Book Month™ is a nationwide celebration of the authors and writings that reflect the lives and experiences of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, genderqueer, queer, intersex, agender, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) community. Originally established in the early 1990s as National Lesbian and Gay Book Month, it is now an initiative of the American Library Association and is coordinated through its Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services and the Rainbow Round Table.
Looking for your next beach read? Or a hot summer romance book to read in the air-conditioned comfort of your home? Are you trying to model good reading habits for your kids and teens this summer? The Library has you covered! Not only will you get fun reading recommendations every month (just by checking out the booklists here on our blog), you can also talk with fellow book lovers (and add even more to your to-be-read pile) at a Library Book Club near you!
Celebrate our community's deep pool of creative talent with us on the first Wednesday of each month in Downtown Jacksonville! The Main Library stays open until 9 p.m. for the festivities! We are conveniently located directly across from James Weldon Johnson Park, one of Art Walk's two major hubs of activity. This month, check out local art in the gallery, join the zinesters meeting and collaborating in the Zine Zone, and drop in for a Summer Kick-Off Party in the Teen Room.
Debut Florida author, Alejandro Nodarse, talks about his high-energy thriller, Blood in the Cut, at our next Lit Chat author interview program. He will be in conversation with local author, Michael Wiley live at the Webb Wesconnett Library on Monday, June 10. An audience Q&A and a book signing will follow the interview.
Find your next great read at the Friends of the Bradham & Brooks Library's book sale! Both days of the sale are open to all, but membership is encouraged and appreciated. You can join at the door for $15. Proceeds from sales and memberships are used to enhance programs and services at the Bradham & Brooks Library. The sale will include gently used adult fiction, nonfiction, children and young adult titles, DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, and more.
Join Mayor Donna Deegan, Jacksonville Public Library, and a host of literacy advocates and exhibitors for one big Summer Kick-Off on Saturday, June 8, from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. at Ed Austin Regional Park. Mayor Deegan will take the main stage at 9:30 a.m. to discuss her River City Readers citywide literacy challenge, distribute free books and backpacks, and meet and greet attendees.
