Library U

Lit Chat with Michael Ray Fitzgerald

Lit Chat With Michael Ray Fitzgerald

Willow Branch Library sits in a corner of Willow Branch Park, a popular location for local musicians during the late 1960s to develop and expand their audience. Named after the “Human Be-In,” San Francisco’s 1967 counterculture celebration, Jacksonville’s “be-ins” spawned several notable acts, including the Allman Brothers Band.

In Jacksonville and the Roots of Southern Rock, Michael Ray FitzGerald digs into the history of bands like the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd and how Jacksonville played a role in bringing these bands to a national audience. FitzGerald and Alan Bliss, CEO of the Jacksonville Historical Society, will talk about this and more live at the Willow Branch Library!

Lit Chat With Tim Barton

Tim Barton joins our Lit Chat series on Tuesday, August 24th, at 7 pm. Tim will be discussing his book The American Story: The Beginnings. Click here to register. 

Tim Barton is the President of WallBuilders, a national pro-family organization that presents America’s forgotten history and heroes, with an emphasis on our religious, moral, and constitutional heritage. WallBuilders has been recognized from coast-to-coast for its work in education, history, law, and public policy, integrating the elements of Biblical faith and morality throughout all aspects of American life and culture.

Small Business & Side Hustles: Are You Ready to Start a Small Business?

The Library U Small Business and Side Hustle newsletter connects you to resources within the Library and community programs. If you would like to sign up to receive the Library U Small Business and Side Hustles quarterly newsletter, click here.

Links to the Library’s collection (READ), online programs through the Library (WATCH), and local non-profits and other community resources (EXPLORE) designed to assist you with your small business needs are part of the newsletter. Small Business and Side Hustle is delivered to your inbox in August, November, February, and May. 

Writer's Lab: Graphic Storytelling

Have you always wanted to write and/or draw comics? Are you interested in partnering with an artist to form a creative team to craft a graphic narrative? Learn some key lessons in creating your own comics with artist and educator James Greene in this three-part workshop. Exploit the real-estate of the blank page while yielding to the collaborative virtues of words and pictures where image is text, too.

Lit Chat with Richard Webb

Historian Richard Webb chats about his book Boats Against the Current. He presents a case for Westport, Connecticut as the real setting of one of America's most famous novels, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Boats Against the Current is a large-format book that includes compelling stories about Scott, Zelda, and their wealthy neighbor the model for Jay Gatsby. Illustrated with period newspaper clippings, items from Fitzgerald family scrapbooks, and never-before-seen photos, the book also recounts Webb’s process of making a companion documentary film with Robert Steven Williams.

Lit Chat with Chuck Wendig

Online Author Talk with Chuck Wendig
Have you ever read a sci-fi or fantasy book and wondered, what kind of a mind thinks up these new worlds? Find out and get a peek inside of one at our Lit Chat with Chuck Wendig! Chuck Wendig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Star Wars: Aftermath, as well as the Miriam Black thrillers, the Atlanta Burns books, Zer0es/Invasive, Wanderers, and the upcoming The Book of Accidents (July 2021). He’s also worked in a variety of other formats, including comics, games, film, and television. A finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the cowriter of the Emmy-nominated digital narrative Collapsus, he is also known for his books about writing. He lives in Pennsyltucky with his family.

Lit Chat with Erik Slader

Sometimes an epic fail can become an epic success. The Space Race in the US started with a failed satellite launch nicknamed “Kaputnik” and the Wright brothers had many mishaps on their way to their first powered flight. For Erik Slader, writing and talking about these epic fails has led to a successful podcast and children’s book series!

Erik will share his experiences in writing and talking about history at our next Lit Chat, so be sure to join us!

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