Cognotes 2017 Annual Conference Highlights - 5

2017 CHICAGO HIGHLIGHTS

ALAANNUAL.ORG/MOBILE-APP|#ALAAC17

COGNOTES

Sarah Jessica Parker Kicks Off Book Club Central
Stephanie Barnaby, San Jose State University

he most important role librarians
play, according to ALA President Julie
Todaro, is "connecting your constituents with the written word." Todaro opened
the ALA President's Program on June 24 by
giving the audience insight to Book Club
Central. "The mission is simple, to provide
resources for book clubs of all kinds."
The vision for Book Club Central is
to have an online platform with both virtual and in person, engaging content and
helpful resources. Sarah Jessica Parker, the
inaugural chair of ALA Book Club Central,
was introduced and given a Lifetime Board
Membership in United for Libraries. The
award was presented by Sally Gardner Reed,
the current executive director of United for
Libraries, who called Parker, "a true friend to
libraries." In her acceptance speech, Parker
said she felt humbled to receive the award
as, "It's the easiest thing in the world to talk
about libraries and librarians."
Sponsors of ALA Book Club Central include: United for Libraries, Booklist, Penguin
Random House, and Libraries Transform.
As the honorary chair, Parker will provide
content around her recommended titles
throughout the year. The primary audience
will be adult readers in book clubs, but plans
are being made to expand that base. Parker
discussed her voracious appetite for both
books and book clubs, highlighting her pride
in cofounding a book club with Molly Stern
of Crown. The first title for that book club
was A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by
Anthony Marra. This experience solidified
her belief "in the incomparable power of
great stories to transport us from our immediate reality."
Parker announced the first selection
for Book Club Central - No One is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts
- described as a story about the American

Sarah Jessica Parker unveils the first Book Club Central selection, a novel by Stephanie Powell Watts (far left), during
the ALA President's Program. At center is moderator Donna Seaman.

dream and African American experience in
a struggling community in the contemporary
American South. Donna Seaman, author of
Identity Unknown: Rediscovering Seven American Woman Artists and adult book editor at
Booklist, moderated the onstage meeting of
Watts and Parker.
Seaman's first question to the club was
about the inspiration that Watts found in
F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Watts
talked about the role of the concept of loss,
loss of industry, ghosts, home, lingering Jim
Crow in the South, work, and the idea of the
past not being dead. Watts and Parker both
talked about what happens to a town, and
by extension the citizens of that town, when
the single industry that defined the town's
identity is removed or replaced.
Parker described "the effortless quality" of

Bestselling
author
Andy Weir
autographs
copies of his
new book
Artemis
after
delivering
his June 26
Auditorium
Speaker
Series
presentation.

Weir

» from page 1

language interpreters, as he paced around
and challenged them to replicate unusual
scientific words, alternately apologizing
and then teasing them by repeating difficult terms. He answered many questions

from the audience about the impact of The
Martian's first line, his VIP visit to Johnson
Space Center, and writing from a female
protagonist's point of view. Among others,
he mentioned the influence of his mother
and father for providing a home library filled
with hundreds of science fiction books from
the 1950s and 60s.

Watts' writing that draws a reader in from the
very start. Both Seaman and Parker lauded
the use of humor throughout No One is
Coming to Save Us, and the complexity of
the characters. Unlike Gatsby, Watts' story
is driven by its relatable female character.
A professor of writing, Watts noted that
she tries to build a story from the inside out,

attempting to answer the question: Who are
these characters? She wants strong characters
that have a real point of view. Parker noted
that, "the best books can take you there,"
away from the internal and external chaos
of life.
Resources for ALA Book Club Central
can be found at bookclubcentral.org.

Annual Conference

http://alaannual.org/mobile-app http://www.bookclubcentral.org http://www.txla.org/

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