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Seekers Book Club: Reading Black Literature with Langston Centre

Seekers Book Club: Reading Black Literature with Langston Centre

Your Library partners with Langston Centre to offer a book discussion group focused on classic and contemporary Black literature.

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Hannah Kiger

Your Library partners with Langston Centre to offer Seekers Book Club, a book discussion group focused on Black literature.

The next discussion is on Thursday, August 17 at 6:30 p.m. The group meets at the Langston Centre, located at 315 Elm Street in Johnson City. We’ll talk about The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones.

The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story “speaks directly to our current moment, contextualizing the systems of race and caste within which we operate today. It reveals long-glossed-over truths around our nation’s founding and construction – and the way that the legacy of slavery did not end with emancipation, but continues to shape contemporary American life.” (One World/Random House, 2021)

Registration is required for Seekers Book Club; call the Langston Centre at (423) 434-5785 to sign up. The first 10 people to register get a free copy of the book to keep, so register today! You can pick up the book at the Langston Centre after registering.

Faye Rutledge, the organizer and facilitator of Seekers Book Club, sees this group as a way to encourage people “to examine the diversity of culture and history that continues to be part of our society.” The group reads both classic and contemporary works by Black authors.

JCPL Adult Services Manager Lisa Krekelberg says, “Our Library users love book discussions, so expanding those conversations out into the community through this partnership with Langston Centre is really wonderful.”

“The Langston Centre is a major part of our city’s history and future, as well as one of the Library’s closest neighborhood organizations,” Lisa says. “So we love working with them on this monthly book discussion group.”


Check out our calendar of events for adults to find more upcoming opportunities. Follow Johnson City Public Library on Facebook and Instagram to receive updates about Library programs, collections, and services.

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