Richmond Public Library to Honor Local Authors — Richmond Public Library

RICHMOND, Va. – March 27, 2018 – PRLog — Families, mentors and educators will meet local authors and learn about a new learning strategy at “GET LIT” at the Main Library, sponsored by the Public Library’s Black Male Emergent Readers Literacy Program (BMER). The event will focus on BMER Kits and Lit Chicks Read Kits for teens, boys, and girls as a way to motivate kids to read more. Featured guests include 5 year-old author Kennedy O’Neal who appeared recently on Good Morning America (The Adventures of Super Kennedy: Saving and Investing), Spoken Word Artist Jamil Jasey (“Library Out Loud”), international speaker, author, and entrepreneur Elliot Eddie

Elliott Eddie’s BMER Youth Entrepreneur Workshop North Avenue Library

(Turning Passion into Profit), poet Christopher Allen (Open Wounds), author-playwrights Vincent Ellis White (Finding Chris, My Father) and Raymond Goode (Through Their Eyes),

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publisher Nina Fitzhugh-Wells (The Christian Writer 101), athlete Cordell Farley (Life Lessons of a Throwaway Kid), A. E. Bartlett (What is it?), David H. C. Carter (The Learning Curve), Coach Gregory Ford (Searching for Treasure), Richmond CSO Paul Manning (X-Men and the Book of Revelation), Kerwyn Philip (NDUGU Business & Leadership Academy), Clarence McGill (Leveling the Playing Field: The Story of the Syracuse 8), Investor Chris O’Neal (Done Deal. What “They” Never Told You About Money), VCU Professor Ravi Perry (The Little Rock Crisis), and Overby-Sheppard E. S. teacher Media Specialist Alfred Powell, Jr.  Books will be available for purchase and signing by the authors. Audience members are invited to ask questions in the Roundtable Discussion. Other activities include face painting, balloons, and games.

BMER is an initiative of the Public Library librarians to address reading inequities affecting students in the local area. The librarians design BMER Kits that contain

empowering texts (fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and speeches) with people of color as protagonists and resources for activities that motivate young people to read. Teachers and other leaders can borrow the Kits from the library for schools, youth groups, and book clubs to encourage regular reading habits.

   This program is free and open to the public, but seats are limited. Please register at http://rvalibrary.org to reserve your seat at the Main Library, 101 E. Franklin St, Richmond, VA 23219. Pumpkin’s Kitchen Café will donate Breakfast and a light lunch will be provided by the Richmond Public Library.