State Library of Louisiana

Louisiana Center for the Book Presents its Inaugural Women’s History Month Program

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana will present its inaugural program celebrating Women’s History Month with a presentation by Louisiana native Dr. Tara T. Green, author of Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson. The presentation will be held in the first floor Seminar Center of the State Library in Baton Rouge on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. The State Library of Louisiana is located at 701 North 4th Street, Baton Rouge, LA.

By the time of her death in Philadelphia, PA, in 1935, Alice Dunbar-Nelson had earned a reputation as a fierce fighter for political and racial justice. To understand who she was, however, requires going back to her first twenty years in her hometown of New Orleans where she was born in 1875 to a formerly enslaved woman and a man whom her family would not discuss publicly. This secret undoubtedly motivated her career of uplifting the Black race while also holding firmly to secrets about her familial and sexual identity.

Biographer Green will provide an overview of Dunbar-Nelson’s life in New Orleans as a student, educator, and a founding club member, including her early correspondence with her first husband, Paul Laurence Dunbar.

“Hosting a program during this month of celebration gives us the opportunity to honor a few of the women in Louisiana’s history who have been responsible for change,” says Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “By highlighting Dr. Green and Dunbar-Nelson, we are empowering women and young girls across our state.”

Tara T. Green is professor of African American and African Diaspora Studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where she teaches literature and gender studies courses. She is from the Westbank of New Orleans and is a graduate of Dillard University and Louisiana State University. In addition to the featured biography, Dr. Green recently published See Me Naked: Black Women Defining Pleasure During the Interwar Era.

“We are delighted that Dr. Green is traveling from North Carolina to her home state of Louisiana for this inaugural Women’s History Month event celebrating a Louisiana woman,” noted State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton. “Women have worked hard and fought for equality for hundreds of years, and we are thrilled to feature two Louisiana women whose identities and work highlight the intersectionality of gender and race.”

Copies of Green’s biography of Dunbar-Nelson will be available for purchase at the program or online through Cavalier House Books, the Louisiana Book Festival’s bookseller. Copies of the just-released Modern Library Torchbearers edition of Dunbar-Nelson’s stories, The Goodness of St. Rocque, will be on hand as well.

The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana is the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. Please follow us on Facebook for more information and any updates regarding this event.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Rebecca Hamilton
State Library of Louisiana
225-342-4923
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Veronica Mosgrove
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
225-342-7009
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana will celebrate Black History Month with a virtual presentation featuring author Ann B. Dobie, author of Black Women Writers of Louisiana: Telling Their Stories, and joined by Dr. Phebe Hayes. The recorded presentation will be available on YouTube and Facebook on Wednesday, February 16, 2022.

The presentation will profile three of the early Black women writers of Louisiana – Alice Ruth Moore Dunbar-Nelson, Sybil Kein, and Pinkie Gordon Lane – who as trailblazers charted a way for other women writers through their stories, poems, dramas, journalism, and more. They not only made a name for themselves as writers, teachers, and cultural promoters, they changed the literary landscape by introducing readers to their worlds and their cultures. Their lives, as women and as writers, have a fascinating history of their own.

“Louisiana is rich with Black history and culture, and we honor that diversity with the State Library’s Black History Month program each year,” says Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. “The contributions of the Black women writers featured in this year’s program have significantly shaped Louisiana’s literary heritage.”

Ann B. Dobie is professor emerita of English at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where she directed graduate studies in rhetoric and the university's writing-across-the-curriculum program. She has also directed a summer institute at the University of Vermont and worked with the Malta Writing Program in Valletta, Malta. She is the author or co-author of fifteen books, compiler and editor of three literary anthologies, and author of numerous articles on literature and composition. She founded the National Writing Project of Acadiana and served as director for 13 years. Her current research interest is Louisiana literature.

Since retiring from academia in 2013, Dr. Phebe A. Hayes has devoted herself to uncovering the hidden histories of African Americans in Louisiana. In 2018, she founded the nonprofit organization The Iberia African American Historical Society, the mission of which is to research, teach, and commemorate the true and inclusive history of Iberia Parish. As president of the society, she successfully submitted applications for state historic markers to the Louisiana Office of Tourism highlighting significant minority individuals and events in Iberia Parish. Dr. Hayes’s essays have been published in 64 Parishes and Acadiana Profile Magazine, and she has written reviews and/or forewords for many other historians. She is currently preparing manuscripts for publication about the history of African Americans in Iberia Parish.

“Black women are often under-represented and under-celebrated, yet we are seeing more and more light shed on their accomplishments and stories,” notes State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton. “Ann B. Dobie has been a friend of the State Library of Louisiana and the Louisiana Book Festival for many years, and we are glad to have her former colleague Dr. Hayes joining her for this program. We are so grateful to them and to showcase this new book and the women in it: women who were and are ahead of their time.”

Black Women Writers of Louisiana: Telling Their Stories is available for purchase through Cavalier House Books, the Louisiana Book Festival’s bookseller. Use code LABOOKFEST for a 20% discount at checkout.
 

Contact Information:

--LouisianaTravel.com--

What to expect from the virtual event happening October 30 – November 14

 BATON ROUGE, La. – Mark your calendar as the 17th Annual Louisiana Book Festival will launch programs on Saturday and Sunday, October 30-31, 2021. Additional new content will be available over the following two weeks on Friday, November 5, through Sunday, November 7, and Friday, November 12, through Sunday, November 14. This free, family-friendly, annual festival celebrating readers, writers, and books is being presented virtually this year. More than 80 authors and presenters will discuss their books during more than 40 virtual programs, including 15 presentations for children, tweens, and teens. Virtual programs can be viewed on the Louisiana Book Festival YouTube channel.

 Authors participating in this year’s festival include 2021 Louisiana Writer Award recipient Fatima Shaik, Louisiana Poet Laureate Mona Lisa Saloy, and Louisiana Young Readers’ Choice Award winning author Tommy Greenwald (Game Changer). Other featured authors include David Armand (The Lord’s Acre), Rickie Lee Jones (Last Chance Texaco), Alecia Long (Cruising for Conspirators), Robert Mann (Backrooms and Bayous), Joshua Prager (The Family Roe), and Steven V. Roberts (Cokie: A Life Well Lived).

 To learn about additional authors and participants, see a complete list on the Louisiana Book Festival’s featured author page. A digital version of the program guide with more details is also available. More information and updates are available on the Louisiana Book Festival website and on Facebook.

 All featured titles will be available for purchase through Cavalier House Books. All purchases of featured festival books made through December 31, 2021, will receive a 20% discount with the festival code LABOOKFEST.

 The Louisiana Center for the Book, established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994 for the purpose of stimulating public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and celebrating Louisiana’s rich literary heritage, is the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Rebecca Hamilton
State Library of Louisiana
225-342-4923
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Veronica Mosgrove
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
225-342-7009
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

BATON ROUGE, La. –  The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana is proud to present the 17th Annual Louisiana Book Festival. The Louisiana Book Festival is a free, nationally recognized literary event that typically takes place live and in-person around Capitol Park in Baton Rouge. This year, because of the continuing pandemic, the festival is being presented virtually with 40 programs and over 80 authors and presenters.

"Since its inception, the Louisiana Book Festival has grown in size and popularity, drawing attendees from all over the world, with an annual attendance of nearly 30,000 people joining us in Baton Rouge to celebrate the literary culture of our state and its readers," said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. "While we look forward to the in-person return next year, we are excited to be able to bring the festival to you virtually this year."

The Louisiana Book Festival will launch programs on Saturday, October 30, with new content made available every weekend through Sunday, November 14. Author pages will be posted soon, and the full schedule of programs will be available mid-October. These and more information and updates can be found on the Louisiana Book Festival website and on Facebook.

"I am thrilled for us to be able to present this virtual version of the Louisiana Book Festival, and I am especially excited to participate by interviewing the iconic singer/songwriter Rickie Lee Jones about her memoir," said State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton. "Although we will miss the personal interaction and intimacy only an in-person festival can bring, we are grateful for the many authors and participants who cooperated to make this year's festival possible."

One Book One Festival, which has become a festival tradition, continues with a discussion of Ernest J. Gaines's A Gathering of Old Men, presented again by the ever-popular Dr. Gary Richards, so attendees will want to prepare for that by reading or revisiting this timely Louisiana classic.

Copies of the novel as well as all books featured at the festival may be ordered through the official festival independent bookseller, Cavalier House Books of Denham Springs. Local artist Jonathan Mayers was commissioned to create the piece titled Lané a kawènn-la (which means The Year of the Turtle in the Creole language Kouri-Vini) for the festival. The original painting was photographed by David Humphreys and can be seen on the website.

The Louisiana Center for the Book, established in the State Library of Louisiana in 1994 for the purpose of stimulating public interest in reading, books, literacy, and libraries and celebrating Louisiana's rich literary heritage, is the state affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Rebecca Hamilton
State Library of Louisiana
225-342-4923
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Veronica Mosgrove
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
225-342-7009
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

BATON ROUGE, La. –  Entering its 22nd year, the Louisiana Readers' Choice (LYRC/LTRC) Awards Program is excited to announce the 2022-2023 nominated title lists for grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Since the program's first list in 1999, over 400,000 students have read the recommended titles and voted for their favorites, reading more than 1.3 million books in the process.

Every year thousands of students from elementary to high school age vote for their favorite book from a list of titles curated by librarians serving on the LYRC/LTRC committees from across the state. Many students cast their ballots on real voting machines supplied by the Secretary of State's Voter Outreach Division.

"The Louisiana Readers' Choice Awards is just one of the many phenomenal programs offered through the State Library which inspires a love of reading in the young people of our state," said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. "Studies show children and young adults who develop a love of reading do better in school. They have better writing and spelling skills. They even develop more motivation and confidence in life."

The 2022-2023 Louisiana Readers' Choice Awards nominated titles list includes seven Junior Library Guild Selections, seven YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers, two CILIP Carniegie Medal Nominees, two Schneider Family Honor Books, a Stonewall Honor Book, a Newbury Honor Book, and a National Book Award Finalist. They have earned sixty starred reviews overall and were written by outstanding authors such as Matthew Cordell, Lev Grossman, Nic Stone, Christina Soontornvat, Kacen Callender, Lamar Giles, and Ibi Zoboi. From fiction to nonfiction, picture books to novels, science fiction to romance, historical to contemporary, these carefully chosen booklists cover a variety of interests and genres, so there is something for every reader.

"The titles on these lists are selected by professional school and public librarians from across the state with decades of experience working with children and children's literature," said State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton. "The nominated titles represent a variety of interests and viewpoints. Finding similarities with people who look and think differently helps connect us and fuels compassion. These are books that kids will love and the will inspires them to keep reading beyond the classroom walls, helping to create a culture of literacy in Louisiana, all of which is a key part of our mission here at the State Library."

The Louisiana Readers' Choice is a reading enrichment program of the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana, which is the state affiliate for the National Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Its mission is to foster a love of reading in the children of Louisiana by motivating them to participate in the recognition of outstanding books. According to a 2019 Kids Count report, 74% of Louisiana's fourth graders and 73% of Louisiana's eighth graders are not reading at a proficient level. The Louisiana Center for the Book and the State Library of Louisiana believe fostering a lifelong love of reading among Louisianans will contribute to the state's overall economic growth and quality of life.

For information about the program including previous winners, how to participate, and additional resources such as free bookmarks, posters, and study guides, please visit the Louisiana Readers' Choice Awards Program webpage.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Rebecca Hamilton
State Library of Louisiana
225-342-4923
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Veronica Mosgrove
Office of the Lieutenant Governor
225-342-7009
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Louisiana Readers’ Choice (LYRC/LTRC) Awards Program

2022-2023 Nominated Titles

Grades 3-5:

• All the Way to the Top: How One Girl’s Fight for Americans with Disabilities Changed Everything written by Annette Bay Pimentel, illustrated by Nabi H. Ali (Sourcebooks Explore, Sourcebooks)
• The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story written by Aya Khalil, illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan (Tilbury House Publishers, W.W. Norton)
• The Best of Iggy written by Annie Barrows, illustrated by Sam Ricks (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)
• The Boy Who Grew Dragons written by Andy Shepherd (little bee books, Simon & Schuster)
• Claude: The True Story of a White Alligator written by Emma Bland Smith, illustrated by Jennifer M. Potter (Little Bigfoot, Penguin Random House)
• Dinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, the First Paleontologist written by Linda Skeers, illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns (Sourcebooks Explore, Sourcebooks)
• The Great Pet Heist by Emily Ecton, illustrated by David Mottram (Atheneum Books for Young Readers, Simon & Schuster)
• Hello Neighbor!: The Kind and Caring World of Mister Rogers written and illustrated by Matthew Cordell (Neal Porter Books, Penguin Random House)
• The Messy Life of Blue written by Shawna Railey (little bee books, Simon & Schuster)
• Midnight at the Barclay Hotel written by Fleur Bradley, illustrated by Xavier Bonet (Viking Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)
• The Polio Pioneer: Dr. Jonas Salk and the Polio Vaccine written by Linda Elovitz Marshall, illustrated by Lisa Anchin (Knopf Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)
• Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb written by Veronica Chambers, illustrated by Rachelle Baker (Dial Books, Penguin Random House)
• The Silver Arrow written by Lev Grossman (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Hachette)
• Swish!: The Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters written by Suzanne Slade, illustrated by Don Tate (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Hachette)
• This Way, Charlie written by Caron Lewis, illustrated by Charles Santoso (Abrams Books for Young Readers, Abrams)

Grades 6-8:

• 96 Miles written by J.L. Esplin (Starscape, Macmillan)
• Bloom written by Kenneth Oppel (Knopf Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)
• City Spies written by James Ponti (Aladdin, Simon & Schuster)
• Clean Getaway written by Nic Stone, illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile (Crown Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)
• Danny Constantino’s First (and Maybe Last?) Date written by Paul Acampora (HarperCollins)
• Dress Coded written by Carrie Firestone (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)
• From the Desk of Zoe Washington written by Janae Marks (Katherine Tegen Books, HarperCollins)
• Twins written by Varian Johnson, illustrated by Shannon Wright (Graphix, Scholastic)
• When Life Gives You Mangos written by Kereen Getten (Delacorte Press, Penguin Random House)
• When Stars Are Scattered written by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed, illustrated by Victoria Jamieson and Iman Geddy (Dial Books, Penguin Random House)
• Wink written and illustrated by Rob Harrell (Dial Books, Penguin Random House)
• A Wish in the Dark written by Christina Soontornvat (Candlewick, Candlewick Press)

Grades 9-12 (Teen):

• Almost American Girl written and illustrated by Robin Ha (Balzer + Bray, HarperCollins)
• Deeplight written by Frances Hardinge (Harry N. Abrams, Abrams)
• Felix Ever After written by Kacen Callender (Balzer + Bray, HarperCollins)
• Here the Whole Time written by Vitor Martins (Scholastic Press, Scholastic)
• I’ll Be the One written by Lyla Lee (Katherine Tegen Books, HarperCollins)
• The Light in Hidden Places written by Sharon Cameron (Scholastic Press, Scholastic)
• Not So Pure and Simple written by Lamar Giles (Quill Tree Books, HarperCollins)
• Punching the Air written by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (Balzer + Bray, HarperCollins)
• This Is My America written by Kim Johnson (Random House Books for Young Readers, Penguin Random House)
• This Train Is Being Held written by Ismée Williams (Harry N. Abrams, Abrams)

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana proudly announces that author and Louisiana native Fatima Shaik has been selected as the recipient of the 22nd annual Louisiana Writer Award. The prestigious award recognizes outstanding contributions to Louisiana's literary and intellectual life exemplified by a contemporary writer's body of work.

Shaik’s books include her recent narrative nonfiction Economy Hall: The Hidden History of a Free Black Brotherhood (The Historic New Orleans Collection), a meticulously researched work on a largely forgotten aspect of Louisiana history, described as “lyrical and mysterious and always captivating” by The New York Times.

Shaik’s other work includes the short story collections The Mayor of New Orleans: Just Talking Jazz and What Went Missing and What Got Found; two children’s picture books, The Jazz of Our Street and On Mardi Gras Day; and the young adult novel Melitte, all set in Louisiana, as well as numerous articles and essays.

“We are fortunate to have such rich literary talent in our state,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser. "I am proud that through this recognition, more readers will be introduced to Fatima Shaik’s impressive body of work and her numerous fans will applaud her being selected."

“With all of her books set in Louisiana and spanning many literary genres, Fatima's writing is an incredibly important contribution to Louisiana’s ongoing literary heritage. In her most recent work, she gives a voice to those whose voices would have been lost to history without her careful and dedicated research,” said State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton. “She joins a distinguished and varied array of past Louisiana Writer Award recipients from Ernest Gaines, the first honoree, through last year’s recipient, John Barry. It is an honor to present this award to such a truly outstanding writer.”

Shaik’s work has appeared in The Southern Review, Callaloo, Literary Hub, The Root, In These Times, and The New York Times and the anthologies N. O. Lit: 200 Years of Louisiana Literature and Breaking Ice: An Anthology of Contemporary African American Fiction, among others. She has received awards from the NEH, LEH, the Kittredge Fund, and the Platforms Fund. Founder of the Communication Department at Saint Peter’s University, Shaik is a member of The Writers Room NYC and a trustee of PEN America.

Learning of her selection, Shaik responded, “I am honored to be recognized by my state. Louisiana is dear to my heart, and its cultural history is central to my work. Anyone who knows me knows that Louisiana is ‘home.’"

The Louisiana Center for the Book will present the Louisiana Writer Award to Shaik at an opening ceremony of the Louisiana Book Festivalon Saturday, October 30, in Baton Rouge. Additionally, Shaik will be interviewed at the festival by Susan Larson, host of The Reading Life weekly radio and podcast series. For more information on Shaik and her work, please visit the Louisiana Writer Awardwebpage.

The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana coordinates the Louisiana Writer Award and other programs and events that support reading, books, literacy, and libraries; it is the state Affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Rebecca Hamilton
State Library of Louisiana
225-342-4923
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Barry Landry
Department of Cultur, Recreation & Tourism
225-342-7009
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana announces its contribution to “Read Around the States,” a project of the Library of Congress with its state affiliates to promote books, reading, libraries, and literacy nationwide. Conceived by the Library of Congress’s Center for the Book and coordinated by the Congressional Relations Office, the project features videos with members of the U.S. Congress from each state reading from a children’s book associated with their states.

The Congressional members volunteer to read from a special book for young people they have selected that is connected to their states either through the book’s author or setting or simply because it is a favorite. Each short video also includes an interview with the book’s author, conducted by the Affiliate center for the book in the member’s state.

The book selected by Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy is The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by children’s author, illustrator, and filmmaker William Joyce, a native of Shreveport, Louisiana. An interview with Joyce conducted by Jim Davis, Director of the Louisiana Center for the Book, follows the Senator’s reading of an excerpt from the book.

“I can’t think of another Louisiana children’s book that so universally promotes the value of reading and libraries and how books truly enrich our lives, no matter what our age,” said Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser.

“We were so pleased of this opportunity to be an early participant in this Library of Congress project and to learn of Senator Cassidy’s book selection,” says State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton. “Bill Joyce is a true friend of the State Library and its Center for the Book, and ‘Morris Lessmore’ affirms everything we fundamentally stand for: the transformative power of reading.”

Joyce is a steadfast supporter of the State Library and its Center’s efforts celebrating books and literacy, having attended the Louisiana Book Festival six times and additionally having created the special artwork for the 15th festival featuring Morris Lessmore. He is a recipient of the Louisiana Center’s Louisiana Writer Award, the first children’s author receiving the honor.

Joyce’s work has appeared on numerous covers of The New Yorker magazine and has won six Emmys, three Annies, and an Academy Award for the animated version of “Morris Lessmore.” Joyce began his career as a children’s book author/illustrator in 1981 and published his first self-illustrated work, George Shrinks, in 1985.

Today he is the award-winning author/illustrator of more than 50 best-selling children’s books and novels, which have been translated into over 40 languages. He received the 2017 Humanist of the Year Award from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities.

The Louisiana “Read Around the States” video can be found on the Library of Congress’s website. As other states’ videos are added, they may be found on the Read Around the States webpage. The full, 50-minute interview between Bill Joyce and Jim Davis is available on the Louisiana Book Festival YouTube channel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Rebecca Hamilton
State Library of Louisiana
225-342-4923
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Barry Landry
Department of Cultur, Recreation & Tourism
225-342-7009
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it