Literary calendar for the week of June 19
READINGS BY WRITERS: Last reading of the season highlights Jeanne Lutz, Todd Boss and Ted King. 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 21, University Club, 420 Summit Ave., St. Paul. The fall season begins Sept. 20.
KAITLYN TIFFANY: Celebrates publication of “Everything I Need I Get from You: How Fangirls Created the Internet as We Know It.” Virtual event. 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 21, presented by SubText Books. Information at: subtextbooks.com/event
WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON
When Sheletta Brundidge watched the news about the children and teachers who died in the Robb Elementary School shootings in Uvalde, Texas, she saw a short clip about how the El Progreso Memorial Library, located just a few blocks from the school, was continuing efforts to help children in the community. One of the ways was the library’s summer reading program.
Brundidge, who lives in Cottage Grove, wanted to do something for the kids and the library, so she donated a thousand of her own books — “Cameron Goes to School,” “Daniel Finds His Voice,” and “Brandon Spots His Sign” — based on her experiences with three of her children with autism.
A Pioneer Press report about Sheletta’s efforts to donate books and travel to Uvalde, funded by Children’s Minnesota and General Mills, brought another donation of 100 books from PrairieCare, a provider of psychiatric services, as well as from individuals who wanted to help.
The project continued gaining momentum when Sheletta dropped her kids off at her mother’s house in Houston and learned there had been a donation drive sponsored by the local bookstore, Buy the Book, through which donors could purchase a book at the store for Sheletta to take to Uvalde.
By the time Sheletta got to the small Texas town on June 9, she had collected about 2,000 books to donate to the library. Her concern for kids 1,300 miles from her home in Minnesota led to a story in the Uvalde Leader-News newspaper in which library director Mendell Morgan was quoted saying Sheletta brought one of the largest donations the library had received.
Looking back on her trip to that grieving town, Sheletta told the Pioneer Press: “At the library they fed us, gave us gifts. We left the folks uplifted and laughing. God showed up and God showed out.”
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