A Publication of the Memphis Library Foundation
Books that Inspired, Guided Us The Memphis Public Libraries in Your Hands
The LINC Issue WINTER, 2026 VOLUME 1, ISSUE III ISSN 3065-503X
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PLUS: LINC at 50: Information Please! Ann C. Perry: Memphis Playwright Catches Up With Destiny Library Sketches A Little Memphis Music Flip This Over! 901 Youth Joins UNBOUND
Not AI! But with a little AI assist. Photo and artwork by Jamie Harmon
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06 The Memphis Public Libraries in Your Hands
a Publication of the Memphis Library Foundation WINTER 2026
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IN-THE-KNOW Repair Cafe, Pivoting on Cocktails & Conversation, the new Frayser Branch, Innovators-in-Residence, and more
FEATURES
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LINC AT 50: INFORMATION PLEASE Fifty years ago the Memphis Public Libraries launched an innovative information and referral service that today is still considered among the best of its kind.
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THE BOOKS THAT INSPIRED, GUIDED US Take a stroll on a fantastical adventure, following a trail of children’s books that have inspired, guided, and maybe even saved us over the decades.
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URBAN SKETCHERS SHOW THEIR STUFF A summer MPL workshop from Memphis Urban Sketchers produced wonder and whimsy in local artists’ interpretations and impressions of our public library.
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CATCHING UP WITH HER DESTINY After a long journey, local actor and playwright brings her destiny to life with her one-woman show on the life of Zora Neale Hurston.
08 ABOUT THE COVER See story on page 3!
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EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED
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WHAT’S MORE PUNK THAN THE PUBLIC LIBRARY? Nathan Weinreich describes the hard-thumping vibes at the Central Library’s inaugural “Pre-Gonerfest” concert.
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901 VIBE: MUSIC - MEET CAITLIN MAE Guest contributor and local music promotor Mark Parsell introduces us to upcoming singer-songwriter Caitlin Mae.
BOOKS & MORE
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BOOKS: INTERVIEW WITH A ‘BAD FEMINIST’ WYPL Host Stephen Usery interviews a ‘rock star’ in our national discourse: speaker and author Roxane Gay
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BEYOND THE STACKS Juanita White introduces us to thirteen-year-old Christian Flemmons, a Hollywood Library fixture who received the 2025 iReady Award and has his sights set high.
36 FLIP IT: MPL UNBOUND YOUTH SECTION On the flip side, check out the new YOUTH section
START HERE DISCUSSIONS STAFF, CONTRIBUTORS EVENTS CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS MPL IN THE KNOW FEATURES CHILDREN’S BOOKS CROSSWORD BIOS, CREDITS, CITATIONS
The city funds the cost of library operations like staff salaries & benefits, building maintenance, & security; private donors make our award-winning library programming possible. The Memphis Library Foundation was founded in 1995 to secure private and corporate donations to fund our innovative and communitycentered work at the libraries.
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Using your mobile device, scan the QR code above to make a tax-deeductible donation to the Memphis Library Foundation
MPL UNBOUND, A PUBLICATION OF THE MEMPHIS LIBRARY FOUNDATION
(ISSN 3065-503X)
WINTER, 2026 VOLUME I, ISSUE III
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MEMPHIS LIBRARY FOUNDATION 3030 Poplar Ave, Memphis, Tennessee 38111 To support the Memphis Public Libraries, visit memphislibraryfoundation.org/ donate, or email us at: unbound@ memphislibraryfoundation.org. THE MEMPHIS LIBRARY FOUNDATION IS RECOGNIZED BY THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE AS A PUBLIC CHARITY WITH NONPROFIT STATUS, REGISTERED AS A TAX-EXEMPT CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION IN THE STATE OF TENNESSEE.
DEPARTMENTS 2 3 4 5 6 11 16 32 33
IMAGINE MORE
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©2026 MEMPHIS LIBRARY FOUNDATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
SUBMITTING CONTENT MPL UNBOUND will consider submissions from local, Mid-South storytellers or those with ties to Memphis and the Library. See page 33 for more details. 1
START HERE
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LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
DEAR READERS, There are moments in the life of any civic institution when its purpose feels newly sharpened. This last year has been such a moment for our libraries. Across the country, public libraries, museums, colleges, and other cornerstones of our shared American experience are navigating the uncertainty of political polarization, policy attacks, and economic strain. Questions about who belongs and whose stories matter have impacted institutions that have traditionally served as centers for open expression, exchange of ideas, learning, and community. In the midst of these national challenges, our Memphis Public Libraries continue to do what they have always done: open their doors, offer refuge, and quietly insist on providing Memphians with the dignity of a warm welcome, access to information and resources, and a sense of belonging. At MPL, you still find children discovering the joy of reading, job seekers finding resources and hope, and lifelong learners gathering to debate ideas that stretch and connect us. You still find librarians - steadfast and deeply committed - meeting people where they are, without judgment, and transforming the neighborhoods they serve. This constancy is intentional, not accidental. It is the result of highly trained and compassionate staff, decades of public trust, sustained investment, and a shared belief that libraries are essential infrastructure for a healthy democracy. At the Memphis Library Foundation, we ensure that this work not only continues but grows stronger. We invest in programs that expand access, protect intellectual freedom, and affirm that the library belongs to everyone. Now, more than ever, that work requires clarity, courage, and community. We are profoundly grateful to you - our readers - who understand that supporting the library is not a passive act, but an active commitment to openness, learning, and curiosity. You keep showing up - renewing your library card, checking out books, attending programs, using library resources, joining your branch Friends group, and giving to the Foundation - because you know it’s a win-win. Your support helps our libraries thrive in the face of historic challenges, and our libraries help YOU thrive, too. No matter the climate beyond our walls, the library remains a steady light: a place to gather, to question, to imagine more. Thank you for standing with us and for believing, as we do, that the library is not just enduring - but essential. With gratitude, ~Christine Weinreich Executive Director, Memphis Library Foundation
THE POWER OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS In a year of shifting landscapes, when it felt as though rugs were being pulled out from under us every week, as editor, I wondered, where do we want to put our focus in this issue, what stories do we tell, and as part of our mission, how do we continue to spread hope? “When the big things feel out of control.. focus on what you love right under your nose.” Last year, as though from the cosmos and through the many of the gifts from the Memphis Public Libraries - the Friends of the Library Book Sale, MPL’s BookStock Author Festival, MPL’s Comic Con, the Memphis Library Foundation’s Libration fundraiser, a variety of Connect Crew outreach events, and the Second Editions Bookstore - I saw that hope over and over again in the eyes of kids of all ages as they perused, picked up, opened, and flipped through the pages of a hundred years of children’s books. “When the dark clouds come.. keep going.” I heard it over and over last year from friends, patrons, and even between my own ears: Immersing myself in a good book, they said; Kept me going, they said; And healthily distracted me from national events. At the library, we remind people that MPL is much more than just books. Parts of this issue are dedicated to that ideal, with a spotlight on 50 years of the vital resource that is LINC211, and a new “UNBOUND YOUTH” section on the flip side of the magazine. But “more than just books” is akin to saying the universe is more than just stars. And what can we say about the stars? They mesmerize us. They are limitless. They help us navigate our world. They inspire imagination. They are full of endless wonder. Books are magic. Books are powerful. Pick up a book at an early age, become immersed in it, and you’re hooked into a world of learning, escape, fantasy, and reflection. At last year’s Cooper-Young festival we received hundreds of responses when we asked visitors at our booth to write down the titles of their childhood favorites and, if so inclined, share what makes them special. Here, I have quoted from the book The Boy, the mole, the fox, and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy (see page 19). It’s about four unlikely friends helping each other find home - in all its literal and metaphorical senses - as they encourage each other to bravely keep going. We can all relate to that. ~Mark Fleischer, Chief Editor “I’m so small,” said the mole. “Yes,” said the boy, “but you make a huge difference.”
MPL LEADERSHIP
Long-Time MPL director Keenon McCloy retires
The year 2026 made official the retirement of Keenon McCloy’s as Director of the Memphis Public Libraries. Ms. McCloy’s 18 years of service were book-ended by widespread changes in the library’s operations early in her tenure to national attention as “the Nation’s Most Innovative Public Library” as featured in the Smithsonian Magazine, and to the National Medal from the Institute of Museum and Library Services in 2021. During her tenure, the library system transitioned from a Shelby County-wide system to a division of city government, becoming the Memphis Public Libraries. Under her leadership, the Library implemented the Start Here brand that positioned the library as the community’s safe place, a resource for job help, internet access, learning opportunities, and social services. She oversaw the development of the innovative teen program Clooud901, the library’s pivot in services during Covid, the renovations of the historic Cossitt branch, the opening of new branches in Orange Mound and Frayser, and the groundbreaking of a new branch in southwest Memphis. Keenon McCloy leaves a lasting legacy of acceptance and innovation. Look for more on her tenure in an upcoming issue.
Cossitt Library West Wing Renovations: What Would You Like to See?
The City of Memphis is reaching out to Memphians of all walks of life to learn about their vision for the west wing of the historical Cossitt Library. Scan the QR code for more information and to take our survey.
DISCUSSIONS
ABOUT THE COVER No, it’s Not AI*
Story & Photos By Mark Fleischer IT STARTED with a little vision. And love. Thinking about a theme and a cover for this third issue of MPL UNBOUND (see Letter from the Editor on the facing page), I imagined a child reading a favorite book, surrounded and led by paths of adventure, inspiration, and stories that went in all directions and seemingly on forever. I pictured Belle in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, books up and down and all around forever, a library of dreams, and I did a little googling. Of course, I came across quite a lot of AI. But with real books and a real library and an actual child, surely, I thought, we could stage that ourselves. After all, we had a beautiful main library and a wonderful, whimsical children’s department of trees and color. And fortuitously, within our reach, we had one of the South’s best and most renowned photographers: the one and only Jamie Harmon. He and I talked, he took in my ramblings, he kinda-sorta understood what I was thinking, and we set up a photo-shoot. --We had the perfect spot for it. Well, the only spot that would really work for our concept: not in the whimsical Children’s Area of the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, but through the candycolored entrance of trees leading into the department (left). We scouted the spot, and after more brainstorming and a search through the library system, enlisted the help of MPL’s Education Liaison Coordinator, Christa Ogier, who volunteered her four-year-old son Scott to serve as our model in a tiger costume. We chose a fall Sunday morning for the photoshoot, well before the library’s 1PM opening, giving ourselves a good four hours or more to take over the entrance of the Children’s Area. We would need the time to lay out our trails of books. --At first, we thought we would be selective in our book choices. Let’s make a statement with our choices. Or lay out the classics and as many of the books our patrons selected at the Cooper-Young Festival. But with our time constraints, this proved daunting. We would need all day for that. --Documentary footage of Steven Spielberg filming Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1980
catches the director’s predicament filming the Well of Souls sequence, when the floor of the ancient chamber needed to appear fluid with thousands of slithering snakes. Each time he peered through the camera, the concept Spielberg envisioned wasn’t registering, so he turned to his crew and said, “We need more snakes.” That Sunday at the library, as we laid out our trails of books and Jamie peered through his camera, we found ourselves with the same challenge. We need more books! Now, sure, we could add them in later with some AI help. But no, we were determined to create an image that was as real and tactile as the books and the library itself. Like it was 1980, no AI or CGI here! --And so, we kept adding books. From the A and B and C shelves, grabbing armfuls of books, and then to the floor, a book at a time, arranging and rearranging, creating trails of books around and through the trees, all over the entrance, as far as the camera would see. Ok, it’s looking like something. Our next challenge was our little tigercostumed model. When Christa arrived with Scott, upon seeing lights and a camera and a ladder and books splayed out all over, our little tiger at first retreated under his tiger hood and to the safety of mom. Four years old. Having worked with thousands of kids before, Jamie Harmon knew just what to do. And with the help of mom being mom, we started arranging Scott and his stripes and a not-so-lightweight book in hands. --Making minor shifts and adjustments and angle changes with each click-click-click of the camera - move him a little this way, no that way, hold the book higher honey quick symphonic bursts of snaps and lights popping, Jamie rattled off dozens of photos. After a little break and another fewdozen adjustments and photos, we were done! - music to every four-year-old’s ears. --*Now, truth to be told, we did end up using a little AI. Meeting in
Jamie’s studio, we reviewed the photos and picked one that looked like it could work. Reviewing all the visuals within the frame, we said What does it want to be? The light and shadows across the blue ceiling... Those beg to be clouds, we said. The castle to the right, and the shadow it’s casting along the far wall, That should feel far and away, we said. And with that, Jamie waved a little AI magic wand and sent us a few versions to pick from. Our final choice - the wonderful and whimsical image on the cover and inside the front cover - was unanimous. --There’s a scene in the ‘90s movie Shadow Lands - Anthony Hopkins plays the author C.S. Lewis, writer of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In the film, the young son of his new American wife (Debra Winger) boldly heads to the author’s bedroom to look inside his wardrobe, only to find that it’s just an ordinary wardrobe. No lions, no witches, no magic or fantasy. Joking with Jamie after he completed his work, referencing the film, I said that some poor kid will walk into our wonderful children’s department and wonder where all the trails and colors and clouds went. Sorry kid. But guess what? I would say, It’s still a pretty cool setting on its own, don’t’cha think? And you can always use your imagination, and with it, you can bring to life anything that you dream up, right here in the library, or for your own life in front of you. --And yes, we returned all the books to their rightful places, carefully and properly, in alphabetical order by author.
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STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS The Library in Your Hands MPL UNBOUND, a Publication of the Memphis Library Foundation Publisher: CHRISTINE WEINREICH Executive Director of the Memphis Library Foundation (MLF) Associate Publisher: RACHEL KAELBERER MATTSON Director of Development & Communications MLF Chief Editor: MARK FLEISCHER
Do you have a 901 Pass card and would like to use it to access the Memphis Public Libraries? Check here on how we can activate that for you! Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library: 3030 Poplar Avenue, 38111; (901) 415-2700 Cherokee Library: 3300 Sharpe Avenue, 38111; (901) 743-3655 Cordova Library: 8457 Trinity Road, 38018; (901) 415-2764 Cornelia Crenshaw Memorial Library: 531 Vance Avenue, 38126; (901) 415-2765 Cossitt Library: 33 S. Front Street, 38103; (901) 415-2766 East Shelby Library: 7200 East Shelby Drive, 38125; (901) 415-2767 *Frayser Library: 2220 James Rd, 38127; (901) 415-2768 Gaston Park Library: 1040 South Third Street, 38106; (901) 415-2769 Hollywood Library: 1530 North Hollywood Street, 38108; (901) 415-2772 Frayser Library
*New branch, opened May 15, 2025
Hollywood Library
Levi Library: 3676 South Third Street, 38109; (901) 415-2773 North Library: 1192 Vollintine Avenue, 38107; (901) 415-2775 Officer Geoffrey Redd Library: 5094 Poplar Avenue, 38117; (901) 415-2777 Parkway Village Library: 4655 Knight Arnold Road, 38118; (901) 415-2776 South Library: 1929 South Third Street, 38109; (901) 415-2780 Raleigh Library: 3452 Austin Peay Hwy, 38128; (901) 415-2778 Randolph Library: 3752 Given Avenue, 38122; (901) 415-2779 Orange Mound Library: 843 Dallas Street, 38114; (901) 415-2761 Whitehaven Library: 4120 Mill Branch Road, 38116; (901) 415-2781
BRANCH MAP
Co-Editors: REBECCA STOVALL BETH THORNE JUANITA WHITE Associate Editors: TAJUANA FULTON ANDREA BLEDSOE KING SARA PRIDDY MARTY SYNK Style & Design Editor: DAVID CHRISTIE Graphic Design, Layout: SERAH DELONG, SerahWorks Original Masthead, Type Design: REBECCA PHILLIPS, Dribbble.com Operations: MOLLY PEACHER-RYAN Director of Operations & Donor Strategy MLF Contributors to this issue: STEPHEN USERY WYPL Program Manager, Host of Nationally-Syndicated Show BookTalk MARK PARSELL Owner & Operator of South Main Sounds NATHAN WEINREICH Special Contributor to the Memphis Library Foundation & MPL UNBOUND JAMES BALL Library Customer Service Assistant Humanities Department
South Library
THE LIBRARY IN YOUR MAILBOX
Library supporters who give at least $25 per month or $250 annually to support the Memphis Public Libraries THE LIBRARY receive UNBOUND by mail IN YOUR each quarter. MAILBOX Scan the QR code or visit memphislibraryfoundation. org to donate today!
MEMPHIS PUBLIC LIBRARIES PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY thru APRIL 2026
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UNITED WAY: FREE TAX PREP 11am - 4:00pm • Frayser Library Meeting Room A Ages: Adults, Adults-Seniors The United Way will be at the Frayser Branch Library to provide free, professional tax preparation assistance to help you maximize your refund. Please remember to bring all basic paperwork, including your photo ID, Social Security cards, and all W-2 or 1099 income statements.
2026 dates: • February 21 • March 28 • April 25 • May 23 • June 27 • July 25
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FIVE FRIDAYS OF JAZZ
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August 22 September 26 October 24 December 5
BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY, LOBBY STAGE 6:30PM - 8:00PM February 27: Joyce Cobb and the Rhodes College Jazz Band March 6: Central High School Jazz Band March 13: The Soul Ingredient March 20: D’Monet March 27: The Galaxy’s Edge Quintet featuring the music of James Equinox and Will Lang
VENDOR APPLICATIONS OPEN! APPLICATIONS DUE MAY 17
EVENT IS MAY 30, 2026
Whether you’re picking up a paintbrush for the first time or returning to a longtime hobby, this class offers a warm, welcoming space to explore your creativity and develop new artistic skills. All materials provided.
SENIORS & ADULT BINGO 1 - 2pm Cornelia Crenshaw Memorial Library Ages: Adults, Seniors Bring your lucky charm, your friends, and your best bingo cheer — you might just shout BINGO! before the day is over. Don’t miss out — the fun starts here!
MAR SAT
SANKOFA GENEALOGY & HISTORY SOCIETY MEETING 11am - 12:30pm Orange Mound Library Ages: Adults The SANKOFA GENEALOGY & HISTORY SOCIETY organized in January 2015. It is an informal group of like-minded genealogy enthusiasts who gather to discuss, share, and learn how to preserve and document family history. For some of us, the search for our ancestors has been a journey that spans decades. Over the years, we have found that genealogy encompasses more than ancestry. As the organization moves forward, we will assist others to explore the vast histories and legacies within their families.
CREATIVE AGING PRESENTS: ADULT WATER COLORING WEEKLY SERIES Mondays, Feb 23 - Mar 30, 2026 12 - 2pm • Hollywood Library Age: Seniors Join us for a relaxing and inspiring Water Coloring Class with Creative Aging designed especially for seniors, held at the Hollywood Branch Library.
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*REGISTRATION REQUIRED. SCAN BELOW TO REGISTER:
JOBLINC @ CORNELIA CRENSHAW LIBRARY 11am - 3pm • Crenshaw Library Ages: Adults Connect with JobLINC for résumé help, job search resources, and career coaching.
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CARNEGIE’S WRITING GROUP MEMPHIS @ COSSITT LIBRARY 3 - 5pm • Cossitt Library Ages: Adults Would you like to improve your writing skills while working in a collaborative environment with other writers? If so, please join Memphis Public Libraries and the Carnegie Writers’ Group for a free workshop series meeting the fourth Saturday of every month at the Cossitt Library.
SCAN QR CODE FOR ALL MPL EVENTS
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Special Subject: PRESERVING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY. Ensure that future generations of your family can connect with their roots and understand their heritage.
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NORTH WOMEN BOOKCLUB 10:30am - 12:30pm • Virtual Ages: Adults North Branch Women Book Club will be discussing, “ Emma on Fire,” by James Patterson. This discussion will be done by phone: 901.440.0342 Code: 573220261 Please feel free to join us.
COMIC CON: This Year at the Raleigh Branch
VENDOR APPLICATIONS OPEN now for MPL Comic Con 2026! This year, the con will be taking place at the Raleigh branch. Comic Con will be May 30, 2026 from 10AM-3PM. Applications will remain open until May 17, subject to availability. Scan the QR Code for the application. 5
IN THE KNOW
Need Something Repaired?
CREW NEWS
The Crew at Cooper-Young Fest
A thousand Cooper-Young Festivalgoers visited the Connect Crew booth at last year’s festival. Sponsored by the Memphis Library Foundation and Friends of the Library, a triple-wide set of tents greeted patrons - adults and children alike - who braved the heat to wade through free books, sign up for library cards, converse with staff, learn about MPL programs, and in stacks of journals, record their all-time favorite children’s books and any related thoughts, memories, or life lessons these books gave them. These favorites, memories, and thoughts went directly into the children’s book feature in this issue of MPL UNBOUND. See pages 16-19.
The Spring Repair Café is Sunday, March 1st, 1:30-4:30pm
LEARN MORE ABOUT CONNECT CREW HERE Photos provided by Connect Crew
SCAN ME
Connect Crew & the START HERE van on Beale Street for 901 Day
The Connect Crew meets the community where they are, providing literacy support, skill building, and social experiences.
2025 Repair Cafe fixes
Memphis Public Libraries lends non-traditional items, too!
SCAN ME
DON’T HAVE A LIBRARY CARD YET? A Library Card opens the door to our physical and online collections including over a million items in our 18 locations and over 50,000 e-books and e-audiobooks. You can also use it to reserve one of our public access computers. MPL’s MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
SIGN UP FOR A LIBRARY CARD
SCAN ME 6
THE MPL REPAIR CAFE, in partnership with Repair Cafe International and the Friends of the Library, is bringing new life to broken household items for the citizens of Memphis. Volunteers from around the city (mechanics, engineers, seamstresses, and other expert hobbyists) have come together to support sustainable living by offering their skills at the Benjamin L. Hooks Library at these quarterly events. How does it work? Simple: each patron may bring in one item to be repaired (things like: bikes, small appliances, clothes, or electronics). When they arrive, patrons will be asked about the item they’ve brought and triaged to the table of the skilled expert best-suited for their issue. Then, the volunteers get to work! Though success is never guaranteed, by working together and pooling their talents, these volunteers successfully fixed hundreds of items over the course of 2025 and saved about one thousand pounds of things from being thrown into a landfill.
RIGHT HERE!
A Repair Cafe is a living archive: a collection of materials that hold value and importance to the people of this city. There are several reasons to consider participating in one of these events, either as a skilled volunteer or a patron. Repairing items can save money, reduce waste, and help society hold on to the technologies of the past. History can be preserved by repairing out-of-print books or vintage clothing. And did we mention it’s free? MPL’s Repair Cafes will continue in 2026, with the next cafe set for Sunday, March 1, and two more dates scheduled in the summer and fall. ~Sara Priddy
Making Lemonade: What happened with Cocktails & Conversation? By MLF Staff AS MANY OF YOU KNOW, our marquee event, Cocktails & Conversation, had a last-minute venue change, just nine days before the event was scheduled. When our team set out to make this year’s Cocktails & Conversation “bigger and better than ever,” none of us anticipated having to move this library fundraiser out of the libraries. We believe that a fundraiser for the Memphis Public Libraries, themed around the Memphis Public Libraries, should be held at a branch of the Memphis Public Libraries. Note: If you’ve never had to change an event venue before, there is a lot that goes into making the event continue as otherwise planned. Not only do you need to find the new venue, but then the PR team has to reach out to all the outlets where the event is advertised, the event ticketing pages need to be redrawn, ticket-holders need to be emailed and called, catering needs to tour the space, photographers need to retest their lighting setup, entertainment needs to be notified, and your key stakeholders need a very clear and detailed explanation of why this change has been made. Suffice it to say, a lot of communication has to “get done.” While we were frustrated with the need to shift venues, we reminded ourselves that Cocktails & Conversation was actually born in the epitome of “uh oh, now what?!”: COVID-19. When our Executive Director, Christine Weinreich, first conceived the idea of Cocktails & Conversation, the team had to pivot due to COVID-19 protocols. Like many events in 2020, MLF found a way to turn the lemons of COVID-19 restrictions into the lemonade of unique experiences until shifting to Cossitt Library last year. Each year, the panels have attracted different audiences and inspired the creation of unique library programs based on conversations had at the event. While we did not abandon the original model entirely this year, we did want to begin transforming Cocktails & Conversation into what would be MLF’s equivalent of a gala. While we always focus on producing events that are driven by our mission and the library’s work, we also recognize the appeal of a fundraiser that is more explicitly a “get excited to dress up and leave the house” event in support of our beloved libraries. Hence, this year’s revamp into a library-themed party, “Cocktails & Conversation: Banned Books Edition.”
Reimagined as a party in the stacks “after dark,” we - and, frankly, many of our donors - were excited to turn Cossitt Library into a speakeasy for the evening. We had layouts, activities, and a run-of-show planned out based on the bibliothecal environment Cossitt naturally provides. Nine days before the event, however, plans changed dramatically. There is no denying that public libraries across the nation have been under the microscope for a few years now, particularly in the last calendar year. The Memphis Public Libraries are no exception. Although no books have been removed from the shelves, recent visible changes at MPL have been driven by Attorney General Pam Bondi’s guidance regarding President Trump’s January 2025 Executive Order, which prohibits DEI initiatives at public institutions. Furthermore, two Tennessee state laws on the same topic that took effect on July 1, 2025, have required MPL to pivot some of its practices to avoid breaking the law. The irony of having to move a banned books event out of the libraries does not escape us.* It was also deeply disappointing for our team, MPL staff, and our donors - all of whom deeply enjoy unique events that showcase our stunning, engaging, and innovative libraries. That said, while we felt the pain, our community of supporters helped ease our smarting wounds by finding us a new venue and keeping our biggest fundraiser of the year going. There are many thank yous to be doled out, but none as great as to the past and current Executive Directors of BRIDGES USA. With the help of Dana Wilson and Sam O’Bryant, the BRIDGES team came to our rescue and opened their doors so we could host Cocktails & Conversation on the same date and time as already planned. While it was not exactly the event we had envisioned, it was a fabulous evening of community, library love, themed cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres created by the talented Chef Eli Townsend, along with an inspiring poetry reading by author Tara Stringfellow from her book, Magic Enuff. The beauty of the public libraries - and the Foundation is that its visitors and supporters are not monolithic. They have a variety of combinations of identities that are as varied as the over one million books on the libraries’ shelves. MPL’s patrons and MLF’s donors walk myriad paths that make up a rich tapestry, but they all share the knowledge that the public library is for everyone. It is an extraordinary honor to support this institution, and regardless of where we have to host the party, regardless of what lemons come our way, we will make a deliciously fun lemonade. * Important note: none of these decisions were made by library leadership and no books have actually been banned from the library!
Cocktails & Conversation 2025 photos by Katie Shelton
THE MEMPHIS LIBRARY FOUNDATION IS NOW ON SUBSTACK
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IN THE KNOW
New Frayser Branch Opens to Awe & Fanfare THE NEW FRAYSER LIBRARY, after a five-year delay due to the 2020 Covid pandemic, opened to plenty of oohs and aahs and tears of joy on May 15, 2025. Dozens of folks within the library system and the Frayser community, as well as Mayor Paul Young and other city officials were on hand to speak to the enthusiastic crowd before inviting the public to tour the new space.
The 20,000 square foot building replaced the old Frayser branch, which was formerly the smallest in the MPL system at just 6,400 square feet. The new branch was designed with the help of community input and was completed for about $13 million. It features a large classroom, numerous meeting suites, an interactive children’s area, and teen spaces to complement Cloud901. It is also the city’s first LEED* gold certified building. Sitting on a hillside at 2220 James Road, directly facing Frayser’s Rodney Baber Park, it is also a feast for the senses. Out front, a budding flower and vegetable garden and lounge chairs invite customers to sit and enjoy nature and the view, while a colorful mosaic greets visitors at the entrance. The mosaic, created and designed by local artist Amanda Nalley, draws observers into icons that convey the history and flora and fauna that is Frayser. *LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; goldcertified structures meet high standards for environmental sustainability and energy efficiency in water use, energy, materials, and indoor air quality. 8
INNOVATORS-IN-RESIDENCE
Cooking at the library with Jasmen Richmond By MLF Staff IF YOU’RE LIKE most people we talk to, you read the title of this piece and said, “cooking? In the library?!” It’s not a typo or gotcha journalism; it’s a genuine offering at our Memphis Public Libraries. For those of you lucky enough to consider Raleigh Library your home branch, you know that, hidden upstairs, is a beautiful, fully functioning demonstration kitchen. When the Memphis Public Libraries and architects conceived the new Raleigh Library, they hoped to make the demo kitchen a key feature of the branch’s programming. Unfortunately, like many enterprises that year, Raleigh’s opening in December 2020 meant programming got off to a slow start. In the last few years, the Raleigh staff - led by the fearless and delightful Angela Adams have set their sights on highlighting this truly unique space. In that vein, the Raleigh staff asked the Library Foundation to secure a chef/culinary artist for the Innovators in Residence program*. When the MPL and MLF staff were reviewing applications, we knew Chef Jasmen Richmond would be the perfect fit. Her mission to help Memphians, especially those in Raleigh, understand what it takes to be an entrepreneur and/or in the food industry is exactly in line with what MPL hopes to offer:
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“My view is that, if I’m someone who comes to the Raleigh Library to learn about business, I want to know, ‘What are the resources specifically in Raleigh that can help me support my food business?’ So essentially, I want it to be like a one-stop shop where you’re either learning how to cook, creating a business, or getting support for your business.”
What is most impressive about Jasmen is the clarity of her mission. She talks about Raleigh as someone who knows the neighborhood not just as a place, but as lived-in memory: the long drives down back roads, the revelation of Austin Peay’s bright signage, the sense that this place, with all its transitions, could still feel like home. For Jasmen, the Innovator role is less a title and more a throughline: a way to braid together food, entrepreneurship, community care, and the kind of practical knowledge that doesn’t always find its way into traditional library programming. She’s not just teaching people how to cook, she’s teaching them how to build lives around their skills — how to see possibility on a cutting board, how to imagine a kitchen not only as a personal space but as an economic opportunity: “I want [Raleigh’s demo kitchen] to be like a one-stop shop,” she said. “Where you’re either learning how to cook, creating a business, or getting support for your business.” In a city where food is paramount, Jasmen is helping Raleigh residents see themselves as part of that long lineage of providers of tasty morsels that figuratively and literally feed a community. This is, at its core, what Innovators-in-Residence are meant to do: not simply share expertise, but catalyze communities, free of charge, fully accessible. Jasmen, in that bright Raleigh kitchen, is making the idea tangible.
Before applying to be an Innovator, Jasmen worked for a non-profit, teaching nutrition education, and gave cooking demonstrations and speaking engagements. Additionally, she owned her own vegan food service business focused on catering and meal prep for festivals. “I was the first black owned vegan business to do Memphis in May. I’ve done all of the Memphis vegan festivals. So, it’s been a journey.” While Jasmen’s career experience readied her for the Innovator experience, it was her connection to the Raleigh community itself that effectually motivated her application:
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“I’m originally from Knoxville. We moved to [Raleigh] in 2010. So when we first moved to Raleigh, I told my mom, I said, ‘Why do you have us in the country?’ Because we came from the back roads and I didn’t even see any McDonald’s or anything! I’m in 11th grade at that time, I need some fast food. So she was, like, ‘Just wait!’
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“When we finally came across Austin Peay, I finally saw everything: McDonald’s, and then the mall, all the stuff. So I’m, like, ‘Okay, we’re good. You picked a nice location.’ Then in 2014, I went to the military, came back home, and everything just kind of transitioned. It wasn’t the Raleigh Mall anymore. They just started renovating.”
MPL UNBOUND, WINTER 2026
MLF received a $300,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) - a portion of $167 million in grants TNECD has allocated across Tennessee for workforce advancement. This two-year grant enables MLF to expand upon successful MPL programs and offer additional resources, expertise, and training to local community members seeking to enhance their digital skills and workforce development opportunities. As participants work to sharpen their skills, the program will connect them with professionals such as podcasters, chefs, lawyers, and more, who will help them “monetize their talents” while also contributing to growth in the city. Jasmine’s work embodies what the Innovators-in-Residence program is designed to do: illuminate the assets already present in our communities and give them room to grow. 9
from the MPL digital archives and ProQuest
at 50 A not so long time ago, in a library galaxy not too far away, the Memphis Public Libraries had their eye on the future. The year was 1975. And while in pursuit of expanding its ability to provide information to the public, library leadership secured $368,000 in federal funds for a two-year pilot to develop a first-class, professional-scale information and referral service, known in library sciences as I&R. With the funding, the Memphis area network of public libraries – then under the umbrella of the Memphis and Shelby County Public Library and Information Center (a mouthful of a title) – looked northward to Detroit’s library system and their I&R program, recruited and ultimately hired the husband-and-wife consulting team of Robert Croneberger and Carolyn Luck from the Motor City to direct the new program. Detroit’s innovative program was considered the model for libraries, but similar services had struggled in other cities. In Memphis, the team of Croneberger and Luck were determined to leverage those lessons learned.
INFORMATION PLEASE Libraries .. have come from a passive approach of having someone sit behind a desk .. to a much more active, aggressive involvement in the life of the community. Regardless of the type of information you may need, we want to be the first place you call to find out. ~Robert Croneberger, January 1976, quoted by the Memphis Press-Scimitar ..They (Croneberger and Luck) had made their mark at the Detroit Public Library and its first I & R Program. And we had them come as consultants to train our staff in how to do this thing. They did such a good job of training that we persuaded them to come live in Memphis and become members of the staff. That’s probably our brightest spot. This too was a movement that was coming through the American Library Association. There was a lot of talk beginning - it came along with the outreach, the disadvantaged. The idea was that people with low education, low economic status, often have great difficulty in getting the kind of service they need just for their day-to-day welfare. And so, it became the thing to do in libraries to help them find the service they needed. It took off and made headlines around the country. At one point, the Library Journal said that New York Public Library and the Memphis Public Library were the leaders in I & R.
JANUARY 19, 1976 The new service, called LINC (Library Information Center) officially took effect Monday, January 19, 1976. Croneberger and Luck, a week before the service was activated, were confident that the two-year pilot would result in a program that would be well accepted and integrated into the library’s regular operating budget. Fifty years on, and with additional backing from the United Way of the Mid-South, it continues to provide a vital service for Memphis and Shelby County, and counties in parts of west Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and northwest Mississippi. In honor of its fifty years, MPL UNBOUND searched the archives and joined forces with WYPL to capture stories and memories from current and former MPL staff who have served roles large and small to keep LINC alive, thriving, and today, still one of the top services of its kind in all the nation. LEFT: Advertisement for LINC that appeared in The Commercial Appeal April 4, 1976. From the MPL digital archives and ProQuest.
TOP: The husband-and-wife consulting team of Robert Croneberger and Carolyn Luck. ABOVE and BELOW: Original images that appeared in the advertisement (on facing page) for LINC in The Commercial Appeal April 4, 1976. From the MPL digital archives and ProQuest.
THE EARLY YEARS “..we want to be the first place you call..”
We have visitors every year who come from all over the country to observe it. My friends and acquaintances everywhere I go say, “Hey, I called LINC yesterday and they gave me everything I needed on such and such.” You know, that is just great. Many businessmen tell me, “We can’t run our office without LINC.” ~C. Lamar Wallis, Director of the Memphis Public Libraries from 1958 to 1980; interviewed in November, 1984 for the Everett R. Cook Oral History Collection, archived in DIG Memphis 11
When the federal government starts distributing cheese, we get cheese calls. Every year at tax time we get tax calls. We really feel LINC is at the heart of the community. ~Norma Gandy, LINC staff member*, in 1982, during the early ‘80s economic downturn
1980’s
There is no standard day at LINC. We take questions and requests seriously. ~Judith Drescher, Main Library Director, in 1989 “Is there a neighborhood watch group in my neighborhood?” “Where can I donate an old refrigerator that still works?” “Are the strange-looking bees in my back yard the killer bees from South America?” “How do I find McGruff the crime-fighting dog?” If we don’t have the answer, we know where to find it. ~Norma Gandy, LINC Director, in 1989 I started working at the library at LINC, the Library Information Center, which was the best job in the world because it was a blending together of non-book information that was also providing services to the public. And it was a source for people to go. It was the best thing in the world. The library was progressive in so many ways. When I started back in the 80s, we had a film studio. No other library had that. The TV and radio station. That was new. [And] LINC. We were far above the times. ~Everna Andrews, in 2019, from 901Voices: Oral History Project
THE PEOPLE What I treasure most about my LINC/211 memories are the people. People like Everna Andrews, Verjeana Hunt, Judy Card, Alice Shands, Ron Reid, Kay Due – people who patiently taught and coached me, and taught me how to coach others. .. the special JobLINC team (IYKYK!) including most especially the fearless leader Robyn Jonston. All our wonderful LINC staff and volunteers – unique and talented individuals, every one – the amazing and stalwart Joy Butler, Kevin Dixon, Barbara Young, Jan Dooley, Stephen Usery, Nakia Armstrong, Allison Delugach, Lisa Lumb, Jerry Bobbitt – I’m forgetting many names – so many smart, dedicated people! ~Audrey May, Public Services Supervisor, 1990-1998
ABOVE, “The Wheel”: Librarian Maggie Farmer, sitting at the ready reference wheel of the QUIC Department of the Main Library. QUIC stood for Quick Information Center, and was launched in 1987. DIG Memphis
42,000:
Number of social and community calls fielded by LINC in 1988
My direct manager was Audrey May, and she was a social worker, and she was very good. And my overall boss was Ron Reid. And they were very supportive, very good managers. ~Hollye Ferguson, on the LINC desk 2005 to 2007 Yeah. Ron’s the best, but he was not my manager. Norma Gandy was there, I think the first year I was there. And then Alice Shands was the second year. ~Cathy Brooks, LINC desk 1994-1995 Rose Merry Brown, who served as the Information & Referral Manager for a short stint - she said she saw a lot of potential in me. Realizing I was a shy introvert she encouraged me to do more speaking engagements. ~Jamie Griffin, supervisor and trainer on LINC 1993-1998 I started my career at the Memphis Public Libraries. My first week (with the library) was in LINC. I worked with Jamie Griffin - I’m so glad. He gave me some guidance. I survived that week. I think that was the best training I have ever got. ~Wang-Ying Glasgow, trained on the LINC desk in 1994; today is the Library Program Development Manager (“I think that’s my title”) I held what was called the Ready Reference Manager; there’s no longer a position like that. My first supervisor was Alice Shands. She was the department manager at the time ~Chris Marszalek, MPL Deputy Director, served in LINC 1994-1995 12
*Norma Gandy (ABOVE) became LINC’s executive director in 1988
JOBLINC:
Launched in March 1990 to assist the unemployed in resume-writing, interviewing skilldevelopment, and job searches
1990’s
I started in LINC the first time I worked for the library. Jamie Griffin - I’ll never call him Jamie - I always call him Griff. Griff was our co-worker, he became our manager and he was always very cheerful and he was like everybody’s little brother. There was a great deal of camaraderie there. ~Susan Berry, started on the LINC desk in the early ‘90s I literally grew up here at the library. My original JobLINC team was the best at that time, Jamie Griffin was our manager. He was the Community Information Supervisor in LINC at the time, and he covered JobLINC. On my team I had Gerald Taylor, Amy McLaughlin, Michelle Cooper.. Kim Roundtree. And Kevin Dixon.. Sarah Ellen ..That was the best team. I miss them. I tell everybody, “once a LINC’er, always a LINC’er.” ~Robyn Jonston, started at LINC desk in May 1996 The majority of the time, I was the database coordinator. Managed the community information database... it’s whatever Jerry (Bobbitt) is. Jamie Griffin was my first manager. ~Kevin Dixon, held several positions in LINC, starting in 1997
“What happens in the Wheel Room stays in the Wheel Room!” ~Audrey May
1850:
Audrey Mae was both the manager and the chief at that time. My very first role was as a 211 call taker. I think it was customer service assistant ~Jerry Bobbitt, 211 Customer Coordinator (used to be known as database manager) since 2015
at 50
DIG Memphis
Address of the original location of LINC, on the second floor of the then-Main Library, at 1850 Peabody, on the northeast corner at McLean. The Peabody location operated as the main branch from 1955 until 2001, when the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library opened its doors.
We have a 40+ year veteran in our mist that can connect LINC from inception, from Peabody to Poplar: Joy Butler. ~Paul McKinney, current LINC211 Public Service Supervisor, started in LINC in 2018
“My first week was in LINC.. that was the best training I ever got.” ~Wang-Ying Glasgow
2-1-1:
Like 911 & 411, 211 was activated in 2003 to handle social service calls, replacing the traditional 7-digit phone number DIG Memphis
I started - it was very kind of serendipitous - I was actually working for Leadership Memphis.. we had a space downstairs (at the Central Library) helping people who wanted to go to college, go to school, and this position came open. I thought, Wow, that might be kind of interesting based on my history with the library as kind of a consumer (of LINC). ~Kimberly Jordan-Fluker, current regional manager for Memphis Public Libraries, started as manager of LINC211 in 2016
THE WHEEL Wang-Ying: [In] the old building (the Peabody branch) we had .. we called them a Lazy Susan.. a wheel that had all the ready reference books for all subject matters.. when I was sitting at the desk with this wheel, I felt like.. I’m invincible? I could answer any questions. We’re getting 600-700 calls a day. We have four people on the phones every hour the library is open and we’re fully equipped to handle questions that can be answered in three to five minutes. ~Sally Johnson, assistant director, quoted in the Commercial Appeal in April 1987, after the launch of QUIC Not be confused with LINC, QUIC (Quick Information Center) was the library’s quick question-answering service activated in April 1987 to quickly field all kinds of questions - a latter-day google before the internet changed the world - with its own phone number. Jan Neal was the head of the QUIC program at its inception. QUIC Trivia: What was the phone number for QUIC? (answer on pg 15)
ABOVE: Three library staff members (two at the information desk and one in the oiffice) in the LINC Department on the second floor of the Main Library.
MPL UNBOUND, WINTER, 2026
Chris M: Telephone stations surrounded this wheel. And there were times where it just got crazy, you know, the phone’s ringing.. the wheel’s spinning. It was big. I think there were 6 to 8 phone stations set up around it. It was probably, maybe eight to ten feet across. Cathy B: So, most of the questions were answered from these reference books, and the wheel turned so you could get to the books. It was huge. It was a big wheel. Huge wheel. 13
Robyn J: If you grew up in Memphis, you knew there was a number that you dialed to help you with your homework. You knew that there was a number to dial [for] directions. Susan B: We got a lot of homework questions. Cathy B: Well, and for directions, there was no GPS. You looked it up in that Handy Map .. Hollye F: .. which was awesome. Cathy B: Yes. It had all the streets, and you’d use that Handy Map every day because they’d call and ask where’s so and so? Where is it?
QUIC & LINC QUESTIONS
at 50 CHUTES & ELEVATORS & REQUESTS, OH MY
Kevin D: We managed several desks: the magazines desk.. the welcome desk. The magazines desk was always super, super busy. Sometimes they would ask for a magazine, and we had it down in the stacks, and we had this old bank chute.. the air chute. And so you put in people’s requests, we need this magazine for this month and this year, and you put it into the bank shoot and hit the button, and it would go “vroom”.. down into the basement.
Chris M: Back then we would solve barroom arguments and, you know, just all sorts of weird questions that we would get, about who won the ‘68 World Series or what the capital of Montana is or whatever. (answers on next page) Kevin D: I got a call and someone was obviously .. they’re writing a fantasy book, and they wanted to know the dimensions of .. what would the dimensions be of a 30-foot tiger? So, we had to work through that. And it’s like we’re not really allowed to do math, but, I gave them the dimensions of a tiger and basically walked them through. Susan B: We had somebody ask one time.. I know there’s a speed of light, but is there a speed of dark? Jerry B: My very first call of all time was someone asking for a broccolini recipe. And at that time, we had a trainer sitting next to us with a headset, and I was like, I was the wrong person for that call because.. I cook, but, “Do you mean broccoli?” I now know that that is a thing. And we did give her a recipe. I was able to find that. Hollye F: How in the world did we do – because you didn’t really have the internet – so what did you do when you couldn’t find the books to answer your questions? Cathy B: Well, you know what? A lot of times if an individual couldn’t find it, you would ask your people – because the people were on hold so they couldn’t hear what you were saying – you can usually ask someone else and usually between several people find the answer.
HURRICANE ELVIS
2000’s
And then we had, kind of like a dumbwaiter elevator that would send the stuff back up and you could hear it.. so, we’d send in multiple requests down at the same time, and people are kind of hovering around the desk because they’re waiting on their stuff. And every time the elevator would come up, everybody would hear it, and they’d start crowding around the desk.. and then we’d open it up and.. it was like a lottery at that point.. then eventually you’re just handed stuff out to everybody and they’re all clamoring for their stuff. But eventually you’d run out and half the people would still be there, and you’d be like, Sorry, you got to wait for the next round.
HURRICANE KATRINA Hollye F: When Katrina hit we were asked to assist the Red cross with calls. We were getting calls here, and then we also went down to the convention center, and we’re taking calls for the Red cross. It was chaos. We were trying to assist and help them find their loved ones because they didn’t know if they were alive or, you know, where they were.That was really tough. You know, a lot of us went home in tears.
Kevin D: After that storm came through.. power outages for a week.. Libraries are not open.. well, we still got to answer the phones. So we all turn the phones on and instantly it’s just ring and ring and ring and ringing, people asking What is going on.. we didn’t know either. But we were walking people through it.. figuring it out ourselves, and eventually started to put together all of this information of what everybody was doing in the community to help people.
So we were also helping people on computers here. We had dedicated computers for them to fill out their paperwork for FEMA, and all the things that they needed.
And then FEMA did come in and we met with them.. and they said (to us) “Okay, well, so what’s going on? Who’s doing what?” So I’d been waiting all this time for this federal response.. then realizing that the federal response was asking me where to start. So I just started telling them everything that we had collected over the last two weeks. And then they they took it from there.
BELOW: Kimberly Jordan-Fluker and the “LINC’ers,” posing in October 2021 for a MPL article highlighting LINC211’s recognition on a national level as a part of the National 211 Steering Committee.
Photographed by Kendrea Collins
CRISIS CALLS
Paul M: An emergency roadside assistance call.. I called the TDOT Help truck for a lady in distress with kids in the stranded car on I-40 near Warford. Stayed on the call till help arrived. That felt better than just providing the number and not knowing if it resolved safely. Kimberly F: One call that was very, very serious, and it was more or less in the line of kind of a human trafficking situation. And it happened during Covid, during the time when entities did not believe that people were still working, but we were working. We had to get quite a few various pieces involved in that case. But, it came to a very positive end. 14
We’re immensely proud of the work and recognition Kim has garnered for LINC 211. Our library system was founded on the principles of service and servitude - without 211, a critical component of that mission would be wholly lost. ~Keenon McCloy, Director of Libraries, 2008-2026
DIG Memphis
JOBLINC & THE ‘LINC-BUS’
Robyn J: JobLINC is such a big part of LINC. And as an extension of LINC It has been the face of LINC for many years to the point where people call JobLINC “the LINC Bus.” It has done things in the community the others have not.. the significance of being able to meet customers where they are. They don’t have to dress up. They don’t have to make an appointment. They could be shopping at a grocery store and walk out, and you see this big vehicle. This is JobLINC. People can come on and find a little hope. We meet you where you are.
TECH: THEN VS. NOW Promotional photos of the original JobLINC buses, from Ohio Bus Sales. Caption at bottom reads: “Thirty-five foot Blue Bird Concept 2000 Coach delivered to the Memphis-Shelby County Library and Information Center 12/89.”
Kevin D: And then the internet came and changed everything. And the Welcome Desk became the Internet Desk and it [went from] the nice, pleasant, Hello, How are you doing to .. you’re managing 30 people that want access to 6 machines, and trying to just manage that time, and helping these people find what they need on this new device. Wang-Ying: We used to have (a card) catalog, you’d open that, they’d give you the information. It was Kevin Dixon who automated LINC that becomes the LINC database nowadays, that and the 211 database. And now it is a very essential and wonderful tool. He was so modest, he didn’t even mention it.
THE CALLERS Audrey M: We had a series of “regular callers, such as jazz lady (who called to ask about music), Bible quote man.. Jamie G: Susan Berry used to get a caller she referred to as the Lounge Lizard. He was trying to get to know her. Susan B: We had one guy. We called him Cuskey because he’d ask you questions and start cussing.
Jerry B: And we have some repeat customers. We even got to know a lot of them by name. And when I say repeat, they actually used to call enough to where they knew all of our schedules.. And those can be really simple calls. It’s like, how do I use this word in a sentence? Or what did the pastor mean when he said this in that sermon? Hollye F: We had our callers that called every day, and we had one caller that would always call and ask how to spell people’s names. “You want to know how to spell people’s names?” And we’d have to say, Well, there’s so many different ways to spell people’s names, you know? .. Here’s five different ways to spell.. Christopher.. just to see if you know how to spell. I could hear them arguing with each other. You know, saying, “Well, I say this, and my friend says this”.. I could hear them just argue, and we’re here (waiting on phone), and they have money riding on it. Kimberly F: We have a different kind of challenge now.. when people call in and ask for information and then they challenge you - on the information. So then what we have to do is go through and tell them.. and I told the staff, be cool and easy and just tell them there’s a real intrinsic vetting process that we go through in terms of all information that we put in our database. It keeps you on your toes. BELOW: LINC’er Jerry Bobbitt on a call at his LINC station.
The QUIC phone number was 725-8801 LINC’s phone number was 725-8895 The capital of Montana is Helena. The 1968 World Series was won by the Detroit Tigers. MPL UNBOUND, WINTER, 2026
Jerry B: One of my worst memories was of the old phone system. We didn’t have a caller I.D., so if it was an urgent call, like a serious (late night) call, we couldn’t track anybody down.. because we do get domestic violence calls and things like that. But, we upgraded those as part of Covid, because that changed a lot with everything we did. Kimberly F: Covid forced us to look at things from a totally different lens as related to call center work. We started moving more toward using laptops, using phones. Being more out in the community with the ability to tap into the systems that we had, as opposed to being a stationary call center. After Covid we then moved into other branches because the data that we capture is data that comes via zip code. So, Paul (McKinney) and I started looking at the analytics of needs coming from various zip codes.. from that we started moving staff into those branches.
LINC’s IMPACT
Audrey M: I no longer take for granted the absolute paramount importance of libraries and the free flow of vetted, accurate, current information – especially about needed social services – in a democracy. Good information matters. Good people matter. And what they do together matters most of all.
Jerry B: One of my internal monologues about what we do is we give people a voice. So you might ask if they feel they’ve ever been able to give somebody a voice or help somebody find their voice. Jamie G: LINC is like Batman. Whenever there’s a crisis the community sends up the Bat/LINC Signal. So.. What’s the capital of Montana? And who won the 1968 World Series? Hollye F: Those were the kinds of questions we would get. Cathy B: Well, you know, the World Almanac would list that kind of stuff. I still remember where I found a lot of those answers. Hollye F: The Almanac had everything. Cathy B: Yeah, the World Almanac.. because, I don’t know.
< ANSWERS 15
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The Cricket in Times Square
Because of the heartwarming characters and plot. *
The Books..
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Love You Forever A beautiful childhood story of love and family.
Frederick
by Leo Lionni
Because he inspires me to be creative, true to myself, and to always remember the value of art and creativity. ~Michelle, 49 Julu and the Duck in the Park I like it when she has the duck egg in her class. ~Alex, 8
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Charlotte’s Web Grew up on a farm in Nebraska, lone spider and all. ~Marjorie
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I love Pete the Cat I Love My White Shoes. It’s such a vivid memory and feels like such a good song when reading it. ~Nicolas, 18
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Photo by Jamie Harmon
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CORDUROY First book I learned to read with my mom. ~Niajade
That Inspired... Ann Likes Red
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Hairy Maclary I like all the dogs. ~K, 73
The book that taught me to read.
*The unattributed quotes are from
Diary of a Wimpy Kid First book series I ever read. ~Ganner
participants who just had some fun anonymously sharing their thoughts and memories. Yours might be one of them!
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The Lorax
Fo r prot e c ting e arth . ~Sarah
INSPIRATIONS
Like Our DNA, How These Books Shaped Us, Spoke to Us, Are Part of Who We Are
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I WANT MY HAT BACK This book is so funny, I signed this entire book for my ASL final. Best project I ever did. ~Micah, 23
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WONDER by RJ Palacio Because I like how it has different points of view. Also, it teaches you just because you look different doesn’t mean you don’t belong. ~Ryleigh, 9
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Good Dog, Carl
Because it’s different every time you read it! ~Anna, 33
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MPL UNBOUND, WINTER, 2026
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Olivia the Pig
Slow Train to Oxmox Such a fun story! ~Tad
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Matilda
DogMan books I like DogMan because it’s funny and I love dogs. ~Jovie, 8
“ That Guided...
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I felt akin to a girl who felt empowered by books! ~Lily
Anne of Green Gables ~Ashley, 40
We have presented these quotes almost entirely unedited in honor of those who shared their raw, spur-of-the-moment memories.
The Secret (Mysterious) Benedict Society It was fun and mysterious. ~Ria, 13
My favorite book is Winston and Gage. I just love it. ~Josie, 8
Homeward Bound First paperback book that made me love reading. ~Leila
~Mark Fleischer, Editor
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Purple, Green, and Yellow I remember listening to this on cassette nonstop. I just remember the silliness of the story. ~Robert
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I saw myself in him, little Harold with his crayon. I channeled his imagination and escape through his fingertips and that purple crayon and to the walls of his room. I wanted to be him. The fantasy of creating my own landscapes and towns and cities within my own bedroom - my own world - escaping the difficult realities around me, was hypnotic, transforming, and perhaps lifesaving. That is the power of a children’s book. On a gut level, a children’s book in the hands of a child can be enough to get the child through a day, the next day, and the day after that. A safe place, and a place of joy. In terms of brain development, a children’s book can map out for a child other ways of thinking, other ways of living, and can transport them into a life of creativity and learning. For me, that book was Harold and the Purple Crayon. And it was magical. As we get older, moving and growing through the various stages and roles in life, many of us are lucky enough to make new discoveries and re-discoveries of books we grew up with. Working for the library, and being around other lovers of children’s books, I am experiencing yet another joyful round of discovery and sharing in seeing old classics I missed, more recent classics, and the newer ones out and about. For you readers, I am certain you have already envisioned the book that changed your life as a child, or the one that set your life in another direction, or the one that mirrored for you who you are.
They All Saw a Cat Perspective is fun to see!
“ Zoe and Sassafras
Because it has magical animals ~Haddie, 6
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Because she is sassy and independent.
The Little Engine That Could I like the moral of never giving up and also I love trains.
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Eric Carle’s Nursery Rhymes Itsy bitsy spider is a favorite! ~Mavis, 16 months
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Paddington Bear He’s just so wholesome and sweet and kind. ~Izzy 17
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Green Eggs and Ham “I like them Sam I am.”
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BLACKBERRY, ALL PETS ALLOWED It has pets. ~Kyle
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Sonia SotomayOr Her life story broke my heart. At the same time (IT) inspired me, that no matter how difficult life is you get up and keep trying to succeed in life, regardless of where you are! Life is beautiful. We just need to have faith and keep going. ~Jeronica
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Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? My son loves all types of trucks and loves to see the trucks and their parents bonding and doing what he does for his bedtime routine. ~Kelsie, parent
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Gobble Growl Grunt by Peter Spier It had no story, but I loved all the animal pictures. My mom got so annoyed. She wouldn’t let me check it out anymore. Now I own two copies, just in case! ~Ellen
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The Rainbow Fish It taught boundaries. ~Diance
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A Bad Case of S t ripes
and Maybe Saved Us...
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Any book by Sandra Boynton. ~Charlotte, 3
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Momo, by Michael Ende (1973 Fantasy Fiction) What happens to people who quite literally buy into finance capitalism and how to heal them.
I love the messag e and lima beans!
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Photo by Jamie Harmon
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James and the Giant Peach It was my favorite due to the characters and how James got to get away from his family. It was an adventure. ~Nikia
GOODNIGHT, MOON My mother used to read it to me when I was a baby. I still have the same copy. ~Anna
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It’s also my favorite book. ~Mason, 8
Was able to memorize after reading every night to both kids! ~a parent
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Maniac Marge Because it develops a character moving through time and adventures, accomplishing spectacular feats while managing integrity and growing up an open-minded individual.
Sophie Mouse I like animals that talk! ~Violet, 9
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Wild Robot I like it because it’s interesting. ~Isaac, 9
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I like all the things about it, especially that there’s a character named Flora! ~Flora, 3
Hatchet Uglies Great storytelling and themes. ~Sam, 10
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The cat in the hat I like it because it has rhyming words.
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Windy Day I just love the joy and wonder this book captures. MPL UNBOUND, WINTER 2026
Babar
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The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse This for me has already become a classic that I re-read for warmth and a smile .. and I’m a grown-up! ~M
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Honest June Because it inspired me to chase my artistic dreams. ~Destiny
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses
A true horse girl from a young age.
Llama Llama Red Pajama I love the rhythm and rhymes. ~Emily and Nora
It’s about two cousins who got lost in a valley. ~Jonas, 10
Bones series
The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil and Frankweiler Gave me a love of mysteries and puzzles! ~Hailey, 28
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Are Part of Who We Are.
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The Grouchy Ladybug I love it because it has great. Hilarious dialogue. ~Justin
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It was the first book I purchased when I found out I was pregnant.
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THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR Vibrant and engaging illustrations! ~Meagan
Harry Potter, the prisoner of Azkaban This was one of my favorite books growing up because I wasn’t allowed to check books out at school due to my high reading level. I’ve always loved fantasy growing up so my mom introduced me to Harry Potter. I read this book around fourth grade and I was able to get fully immersed in it. Plus, it was really well written and helped me get through school and the bullying I had growing up. Harry Potter will always hold a special place in my heart. ~Andrea
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Percy Jackson The mythical adventure of a young boy who was wrongly accused of stealing a magical object. He must clear his name or face the wrath of the gods. ~Amaryn
Lady and the Tramp My dad read it to me every night and I just love the story about dogs. ~Gina
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SKETCH WORKSHOP
Martha Kelly
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Linda B. Boswell
Jim Naville Last August, Members of the Memphis Urban Sketchers Group brought their pens, pencils, and pads and transformed the Central Library into one big artist studio in creating these images. All works published here with permission from the artists.
Mary May MPL UNBOUND, WINTER 2026
Bohyeon Jeong
Susanne Jackson
Susanne Jackson
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SKETCH WORKSHOP
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Nancy Mardis
MPL UNBOUND, WINTER 2026
901VOICES: ORANGE MOUND
MPL UNBOUND, SPRING, 2025
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A Kindred Soul, Or, How I Came to Write a One-Woman Play on the Life of Zora Neale Hurston
photos courtesy Ann C. Perry, from her one-woman show
MEMPHIS MEDLEY By Ann C. Perry I WAS BURSTING at the seams. The metaphors, the puns, and the stories were flooding me. After reading and researching for so long, I had triggered my imagination into delivering a play of historical fiction on the life of Zora Neale Hurston. This was no coincidence. Fate had at long last arrived. In the International Admissions Department of Roosevelt University in Chicago in the 90’s, I churned out Form I-20’s all day long so that international students could get student visas and study in the United States. My supervisor, April, decided to work on a master’s degree. At the end of one of her courses she handed me “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” by Zora Neale Hurston and said, “You should read this.” April had this low key “knowing.” Like the time a rash sprang up on my face, and she convinced me to go to minor med, and it turned out to be shingles. Like the time she insisted I go home for Labor Day, even though I was so broke she had to loan me the airfare so that I could, shockingly and surprisingly, witness my niece being born on Labor Day at home. So, when she handed me this book and said nonchalantly that I needed to read it, I looked at her like, here she goes again with her magic. A year later when I read it, I was mesmerized, flabbergasted, gobsmacked, and wanted to know everything about Zora Neale Hurston. I went to one of the first Zora Neale Hurston festivals with my sorority sister Bri, and I was a swirl of feelings and emotions. Zora’s writing was a feast of sensory deliciousness and boldness. The writing was in dialect unapologetically. Who was this woman? Her major biographer, at the time, Robert Hemmenway was at the festival and said during a lecture that Zora’s next biographer should be a black woman. I knew immediately that he wasn’t describing me. Oh, but twenty-some-odd years later the thrill of being on a zoom with the next major biographer, the late Valerie Boyd was palpable as I listened to her tell the same Robert Hemmenway story. The moment my mind connected the dots and I realized, that-wait, I was there. I heard him say that. I was a witness. She had 24
accepted her mantle and wrote a beautiful biography, Wrapped in Rainbows. But that night was for me too. I heard my calling that night. The unspoken one. One that was in between the lines, floating in the air of the conference between lectures and vendors and sweet potato pies and revelry and called to action for other people. My calling was also a commission. It said to me, “but you, Ann Clarissa Perry, oldest daughter of Clarence and Edna-you will write Zora’s story, a one woman play on her life. Just as Zora had become obsessed with jumping at the sun, I became possessed by the thought of this play and thus began my quest. I collected all of her stories, all of the books I could find. I reached out to Valerie Boyd with questions, attending any talk I could find. She was warm, open and answered every DM. I remember her telling me that Alice Walker once said that Zora was not indoctrinated into inferiority and that Zora thought country folk were worthy of literature. What a mindbending thought. Zora’s little isolated town of Eatonville, the first black incorporated town in the United States had bestowed upon her a cultural esteem that was different from what I knew. Captivated by her boldness, her pride, the “don’t give a damn-ness” that oozed effortlessly from her writing, I began to run down all the information I could find. I soaked her up with an inexplicable envy. I wanted that boldness that she clearly carried without a care. Imagine the gall to burst into an awards afterparty yelling the name of your play, COLORSTRUCK, because the fools had the nerve to give you second place. I intermittently looked down on my own persona of being a “good girl.” I began to chase the story that was chasing me. I knew I did not want another rehashing of her timeline. I had to find my story about her, the story that wanted me to tell it, give it air, drag it into the light of day. While I searched my soul and prayed that illumination would come, I read and researched and wrote ideas down. Life happened. Eventually twenty years passed, and finally a story emerged and poured out of me like sweet tea in any given Memphis restaurant. It was a Ruth Stone moment where I knew I had to grab this story before
it passed me by and went into the next town to another writer. I saw myself reflected in Zora Neale Hurston. But not her boldness - not at first. I saw myself in the struggling artist, the creative woman with something to offer who was sometimes celebrated but sometimes overlooked. Mostly, though, I saw myself as different from her. Zora moved through the world with a kind of fearless conviction; she stood on business long before we had the phrase for it. I, on the other hand, was unsure. Unsteady. Eager to please. I almost didn’t write this show because I wasn’t convinced I was “good enough” — not as a writer, not as an actor. But choosing to say yes to myself meant choosing to shed timidity. It meant deciding to rise to the occasion, even when the occasion felt bigger than me. And that’s where Zora empowered me: not by making me more like her, but by reminding me of what was already inside me. She didn’t give me courage — she awakened it. She didn’t give me voice — she insisted I use the one I already had. Confronting the power and legacy of her story demanded that I show up for myself and find my personal power. If I wanted to do this show I had to. I had no choice because I decided that shrinking wasn’t an option. So, I wrote and wrote. I “dropped” in. Being in the living room with her. I tricked my imagination into finishing LIVE RICH DIE POOR. Several iterations later I had my Zora one woman play. The Zora story I wanted to tell was one where Zora emptied and emptied herself and left her best gifts with us. Along the way I said goodbye to juicy tidbits and information that did not fit within the theme I imagined. So, I “killed my darlings.” But there is always a curious child inside of me. I wondered about the villains in Zora’s life. Who were they really? And does any villain really think of themselves as the villain? Long before a villain origin story was MPL UNBOUND, WINTER 2026
That dream was steadfast and immovable. They said as a little girl I was prophetic and Had healing hands. When he rode through town I knew how I was to serve God. I knew God had called me to be a pastor’s wife. It takes a certain kind of woman to be in that capacity and I was afraid but when you called, you called.
mainstream language, thoughts of three thorns in Zora’s sides rolled around in my head rent free. Mattie Moge, the stepmother who entered Zora’s life after Zora’s mothers’ death, who was the quintessential evil incarnate stepmother and who, by Zora’s account, deserved the near death beating that Zora gave her. Then there was John Hurston, the father who never cared for her as she had longed for and felt tricked at having such a peculiar 2nd daughter. And the genius, Richard Wright, who was a Zora critic, but who, in my story, represents an amalgamation of critics intent on humbling Zora and shaming her out of the limelight they didn’t think her writing was intelligent enough to deserve. I wondered what was Mattie Moge’s backstory-before she was a cliche of a second wife? And since I could not seem to find her story anywhere, I found it in my imagination. The ill-tempered father, John Hurston, what was behind his harsh exterior? And for the last, Richard Wright. The many layered complexity of why he found her writing insufferable. I felt I owed it to these villains to find a narrative that let them breathe. The following pieces never made the final cut of LIVE RICH DIE POOR but they remain a part of my personal canon, created to help me understand characters I gave major side eye to. Mattie Moges’ story as I imagine it:
MATTIE MOGE ZORA’S STEPMOTHER I was a little girl and I had a simple dream: serve the Lord, be God’s vessel.
Bright was light the morning of my calling Breeze was alive that illustrious day, like it was a newborn babe that cried out testing its lungs in the glory of the morning. A beautiful chocolate breeze blew brazenly into town. It blew? No, it sauntered, skipped, it glided through my town. I was a young girl serving the Lord with gladness all the fire shut up in my bones full of the anointing Everythang smiled that mawning Bible says if we don’t worship God Even the rocks will cry out Not this mawning. There was a praise on all the lips The rocks lay dormant The crabiest folks was joyful The town drunk was sober The sun seemed to have dimples and the breeze... Well the breeze zipped around me and spoke Literally Literally whispered... the one is coming “Excuse me Sis Bynum did you say sum,” I said. No dahling The breeze zipped around me and spoke again “Him”, turn around I turned around and saw him “Yes him, serve him with gladness” It was as if the holy spirit took over my walk All of a sudden, I didnt walk lak a girl no more I didnt speak lak no girl I knowed I had to serve him so as scared as I was, I approached him and said softly, Are you the mand of gawd? He took his hat off. Yes maam, I am. Ise tied Need to lay my head down for I speak at de chuch house tomorrow. I looked him up and down, Lord he was so tied. He had so many packages, what was weighing him and dat horse down. He had bought all of this pretty yalla stuff. “Boy” I said to Delroy, the handy mans son, “Take the preachers stuff upstairs to the parsonage.” Delroy looked me crazy cause I aint never talked to him like that, like a woman, but I guess he heard the holy spirit in my voice cause he obeyed me. Preacher, I say in this new voice I never heard come out of my 25
mouth before, “Im gone tend to you tonight. The Lord told me to.” He looked at all them packages of yalla things and said, “yes’m.” I gave him my virginity and I didn’t mind. All the little girl in me poured out with The sweat pouring down my face and blood down my legs. I served him with gladness. A year later he came and got me and made me his wife. It was the happiest day of my life and the worst mistake of my life.
make da mand of Gawd feel at home and I brung Lucy home dis here fancy yalla. Well with huh gone seem lak dat yalla was gonna swalla me whole. The morning I woke up wrapped in dat quilt and I couldnt smell my Lucy no mo; I couldnt feel huh soul in dem curtains no mo, I couldnt find huh no mo, I sat up in da flo and
JOHN HURSTON’S STORY, AS I IMAGINE IT. I had me a new wife. I had done mourned for my othern. I even spoke huh eulogy like God himself was borrowin my vocal chords. I looked in that room ever day for my Lucy s until it hit me. My Lucy wont nevah coming back. My chillens was all so heartbroken and so was I. The house was filled with Lucy Hurston. This was huh domain. She was the head oman here. I just almost couldnt sleep in our bed no mo. Zora and dem kids mad about me givin that bed away. I couldnt bit mo sleep in that bed than two elephants in a livingroom. I woke up one mawning and seen dem yalla curtains. Lucy called em butterscotch. Any way dem yalla curtains was starin at me lak her soul was in um. And I was wrapped in dat yalla quilt dat was smelling lak huh. I was wrapped so tight. Scared dem covers was gone lose huh scent. She was right. I wasn’t right in dem towns I travelled in, Nobody ever taught me how to be. I am de mand of Gawd and I was evangelizing and folks.....women folk always wont to give me thangs. Dis black gal come straight away sayin Rev. Hurston the spirit say tend to you tonight. I say ifn you want to tend tah me, sho me dah linens sto. She was all huffy bout it but she showed me dat sto. I walks in . Now mind you I done been to all kinds of stows looking fuh my Lucy’s yalla bed thangs and I walks in dis sto and low but behold.
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There it is, the very same yalla. Ya see now my Lucy didnt leave it to chance. She gives me a switch....uh, uh a swatch. Deys got the yalla quilt, da yalla pilla, yalla curtains. All kinds of yalla doo dads dat match my Lucy’s swatch. I bought it all for huh. So in da next town I let da gal
cried lak a baby Wrapped in dat yalla quilt. I went da next day and gat dat gal from dat town, what wanted to make me feel at home, and I married huh. I gave huh what she wanted cause I wanted to feel at home in my own home. And all she wanted, the one Thang she wanted, wasn’t much really…… All she wanted was for my chullen to be gone
RICHARD WRIGHT AS I IMAGINE IT Zora: Poor Richard .....I Do have to admit, this one seems even low for him He brought Daisy Fenter to the jazz club. I was in this exotic trance letting it slowly fall off of me like a waning organism. I took my time and they waited for me. I opened my eyes and immediately I saw the shadow of a man who didn’t belong. He stepped out of the shadows and it was Richard Wright’s shell. He grabbed her hand and brought her over to me. As they walked towards me, I wondered just who in the hell Is this and what did he want now.
Daisy Fenter: Howdy do Miss Hurston, I’m Daisy. You can just call me uh Daisy is what folk call me. My folks was sharecroppers Ms. Hurston. Thats the only life I know growing up. Me and Exodus, my husband, well, was my husband, we was so in love and didnt wont no sharecropping life, so we run off to the city and get us some jobs: cooking and cleaning, that’s all we knowed to do. Well, first come MissSallieMaeJohnson, our first baby. That’s her first name: MissSallieMaeJohnson. I wanted huh to sound dignified. I made folks call huh whole first name. She’s a really classy thang, for a little black gal. Then came Dr. Benjaminstovall. That’s his whole first name Too, cause Ms. Hurston these kids gonna be somebidy. And Dr.benjaminstovall is the smartest, most kindest boy I ever met. How can one negro boy be that brilliant and loving is beyond me. And then my baby is QueenCeceliathegreat, also her first name. This is the sassiest little busy body you ever wanted to meet. You would like huh though because she MPL UNBOUND, WINTER 2026
funny and say the most odd ball thangs. Dr.Benjaminstovall is eleven, MissSalliemaejohnson is 10 and Queenceceliathegreat is six. (Cries) We are hard workers Ms. Hurston. You aint nevah seen two black folks cook and clean as hard as we did. Our onliest reward is that we had 3 special children, Ms. Hurston. But It’s just like something out there in the atmosphere can sniff out if a negro is happy. Weese cooking and cleaning toilets but weese happy cause we in love and got 3 dignified chirren. Now show, they children, but they good children. And something outchea in this old bag of evil sniffed out our happiness and decided we had too much. We asked Mr. George 800 times to tend to the heaters in that apartment building. But he won’t cause we all black stacked on top of one another. And he reminded us that our black asses cant make him do nothing. He make a nickle more than we do but his white skin make him think he sooo special. Me and my Exodus got 10 minutes together in the morning when he’s coming in and I’m leaving. We both working 2 shifts to make ends meet and get something nice for our children cause theys good chirren. They aint no street hoodlums. Nothing big: peppermints on Sunday, books once a 27
year, a stow bought dress every year for the girls. We had ten minutes together to walk to the stow, talk about the kids, hold hands, thank God for each other and what we gone do one day. Ten minutes for that hello hole to explode and burn my children to a crisp. My children Ms. Hurston; Misssalliemaejohnson Jones Dr.Benjaminstovall Jones Queenceciliathegreat Jones Them white folks killed my children and 40 other folks 18 children in all and nothing is going to happen to them. They laughing in our face. They were gonna investigate when they thought one of the chirrens was white, til they found out that Ms. Alice son was a mulatto. Her employer told it. Then they said, you darkies better get before you lose your jobs. What jobs? Me and Exodus only work for them kids. Now what we pose to work for. They gone, you hear me? Thank you God it was quick. My Exodus mind left him. Just lak his name say: He walked off one day and didn’t come back. That Mr. Wright say you could help us but you round here writing about country folks in love. My chirren could have been somebody, my children was somebody. Write about dat Ms. Hurston.
Zora: (ZORA STEPS AWAY AND HAS A SOLILOQUOY) He brought her to me to shame me. And I am ashamed... of him. You think I dont know. You think I dont see. You think this doesnt crush me just because I dont let it crush me for public consumption? How dare he. (ZORA RETURNS TO DAISY) Ms. Fenter I am so sorry for your loss. I am not a reporter. I am not a journalist. I cannot report on this travesty. This crime against your beloved chirren is abhorrent, but I am not on a reporter on assignment. My particular assignment is to pour out everything that comes from me. That is what I write, it is what I have to write. I cannot help.....
Ann C. Perry on WYPL’s Arts Scene
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This is what he did to me, to convert me. Despicable I say. I am emptying my soul. I am on assignment I am giving voice to My country neighbors back home. God have mercy on Richard’s soul.
Ann C. Perry performs LIVE RICH DIE POOR at The Halloran Centre Friday, February 20, at 7:30pm.. Ms. Perry was recently a guest on WYPL “Arts Scene.” Her interview can be watched here, on WYPL’s YouTube channel:
An Inaugural “Pre-Gonerfest” at the Central Library Story and Photos by Nathan Weinreich THRASHING BODIES, wailing guitars, screaming “sad boy” & psychedelic postpunk music, and… walls of books? Story time? Kids dancing with inflatable dinosaurs and unicorns? That was the scene at the Central Library’s Pre-Gonerfest concert, which capped off their summer Explore Memphest programming and preceded the longstanding Gonerfest, a local music festival “spanning genres and generations, showcas[ing] unique and wide-ranging bands, MCs, and DJs from around the world.” You might not think it on an average day, but there’s really nothing more punk than putting on a rock concert in a library. Just ask your local librarian; there’s an aboveaverage chance that they’re a secret punk themselves. Take Skyler Gambert, for example, a librarian at the Orange Mound Branch Library by day, guitarist for local bands Tuth and Sweet Darlin (and singer for the latter) by night, and the mind behind Pre-Gonerfest. “I’ve observed that [the Memphis punk scene] has its own culture, its own population of Memphians who are really into that type of music, and I haven’t really seen them at the library a lot. Music is such an important part of our city, and we always need to play a role in it, so I wanted to bring those people into our spaces and make them feel welcome,” said Gambert of his inspiration for Pre-Gonerfest.
EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED What’s More Punk than the Public Library?
Hippie and Model Zero for the concert, goes back to 2012, when he interned for Goner. There, he embedded himself into the local music scene and grew a strong appreciation for what it takes to put on a concert - skills he would apply when creating Pre-Gonerfest.
that scene. I’ve seen those bands, and I’ve experienced that music,’” said Gambert. “That’s why you have kids at events like that, y’know? So they can get the bug, and then maybe they’ll start a band, and now there’ll be all these new people doing it 10 years from now. Who knows, maybe they’ll even play at the library!”
The concert fit neatly into the existing Memphest programming - a system-wide children’s concert series emphasizing literacy and summer reading incentives started by the current Regional Manager of the Central Library, Dara Day, and continued by Children’s Services Coordinator, Jessica Clark. Memphest began as a spiritual successor/free alternative to local programs like Rock-N-Romp, where punk fans with families could take their children to expose them to new types of music in a familyfriendly environment, but with an emphasis on musical acts and literary activities that more directly reflect the community.
Concert series like these also directly pay back into the libraries themselves. Clark explains that, on a basic level, they simply increase direct engagement with the libraries: “the majority of people who come to events like these are usually like, ‘oh, I didn’t know the library does these kinds of things, I should get a library card.’”
“When Blvck Hippie played, being able to see so many kids - especially little Black girls and boys - watching an almost all-Black band playing music that is not necessarily the stereotypical thing that they might hear meant a lot to me,” said Day of her experience at Pre-Gonerfest.
Gambert’s connection to Goner Records, the local record label/retail store that helped land Memphis-based musical acts Blvck MPL UNBOUND, WINTER 2026
That kind of equitable access to unique and underground experiences is paramount to the library’s mission, with the hopes of reinvesting straight back into the community. “Those kids that were at PreGonerfest may never have been exposed to that kind of music, and the library is a place where they can go and get that for free. They can go to the library and say, ‘I was a part of that, I’m a part of this city. I’m part of
But, in Clark’s opinion, these types of events are about more than just pulling in new library patrons; they’re about redefining what the library can be. “I’m sure the littler kids that attended were just like ‘this was a blast, I got to dance with a unicorn,’ but I think for the older kids, maybe it makes them see the library as more relevant. They’re in school all day, they’re told to be quiet all day, so seeing a different side to that when they come to a place like this makes them feel more comfortable. And then, if they’re more comfortable, they’re more willing to ask a librarian for a book that maybe they wouldn’t feel comfortable asking about at school, more willing to explore their interests without fear of being judged.” Based on the success of this inaugural concert, Gambert, Clark, and Day all plan to continue the Pre-Gonerfest programming moving forward. “It was one of the most successful Explore Memphests that we’ve had,” claimed Day. Moreover, the 29
relationship with Goner has opened doors for other types of programming. Gambert is currently in talks with another Memphisbased record label to partner on a hip-hopfocused event based largely on the success of MPL’s partnership with Goner on PreGonerfest.
‘oh yes, we would love to work with the library, we’ve always wanted to play the library.’ I guess now we’ve got punk cred or something,” joked Gambert. Going forward with future Pre-Gonerfests, Clark wants to increase representation and equitable access both in the bands that play and in the marketing around the event. “We didn’t have a big Latino crowd [at Pre-Gonerfest], but I think that if we’re not marketing in a way that can be understood by everybody that it’s no surprise when they don’t show up. So going forward, I would like to do more bilingual things.”
The reshaping of MPL’s image as a home for everyone - punks and hard rockers included - has also had an effect on the response from musical acts. When discussing her experience booking bands for prior Memphest concerts, Day mentioned that “there is always a bit of an ‘it’ll be noisy, is that okay in a library?’ And like, yeah of course that’s okay. I asked you to come, of course you’re gonna be loud.” But since Pre-Gonerfest, excitement and engagement from the acts has grown. “Now I’m talking to a band about performing, and when I’m like ‘[it’s at] the library’ they say
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Programming like Pre-Gonerfest and Memphest as a whole are more than just reflections of the values inherent to MPL that we at MLF aim to support, they’re a part of what libraries should be down to their core. “The way I see it, culture is knowledge and passing on that culture is important,” said Gambert. “That’s already part of what a library needs to offer. It’s not like we have to make [the library] new and fresh [to get more engagement], it’s more like we’re trying to get as much value out of what was already there and give people more access to it. That’s the main thing a librarian does: give people access to information. And that’s what you do when you put on a concert, whether you know it or not.” Thank you to Dara Day, Jessica Clark, and Skyler Gambert for contributing to this piece researched, written, and photographed by Nathan Weinreich. We’ll see you next time! For more MLF stories, visit us on Substack!
SCAN ME
901 VIBE: MUSIC
Caitlin Mae Chases Her Dreams In Song By Mark Parsell MEMPHIS WAS INTRODUCED to emerging UK country artist Caitlin Mae earlier this year when she played a Friday night songwriter round with Hanna Aldridge and Melissa McClaren at South Main Sounds. The next morning, she wowed shoppers at The Memphis Farmers Market where so many stars have passed through, like Ashley McBryde, Karen Waldrup, Amy LaVere and Valerie June. We’re looking at a return trip perhaps in early spring, so stay tuned! I caught up with Caitlin as she was preparing to play a gig in her adopted Home of Nashville. “It’s part of Americanafest at the Analog Hotel,” she explained in her crisp accent, Americanafest being one of the most high-profile festivals in the country. Caitlin is a new member of the Country Music Association, something that is near and dear to her heart and development as an artist. “During a visit to Nashville, I met the person who would become my manager, Kim. He was hosting a songwriter round, and I was playing a feature showcase which happened to be at the same venue. I pitched my songs to him and wanted him to plug them and that’s really why we met. I was only in town for three weeks, then I flew back to the UK. “Not long after I got back home he called me and asked if I could come back in a week and play CMA Fest. I didn’t even think about it or ask my parents, I just said ‘Yes, I’ll be there.’ I was already planning on moving to Nashville so I wouldn’t turn any opportunity down. I played many shows and met so many people and that led to my second CMA Fest, where I did the same thing, but there were a lot more familiar faces.” “I really am excited about all things that happen every day and the magic in this city and beyond. The fact that social media means you can reach people in every corner of the world.” Proclaiming herself technologically challenged, she embraced live streaming so she wouldn’t “lose touch with her people” during lockdown in 2020. “I already had a dedicated but small fan base of dreamers that were like family and friends to me. Then lockdown brought so many more dreamers into my life. Through the livestreams I could reach people in all these places I had never been - to places like Australia, America and Norway. This made my shows accessible to my fans, and was the reason I was able to get my work visa and move to Nashville.” When I likened her “Dreamers” to “Parrotheads” or “Deadheads”, she lit up with joy. “The dream has always been at the core of what I do, I didn’t know back then that the Dreamers would be the name of a movement and an army that stands by my side no matter what. The first single I released was called ‘The Dream’ and I came to realize it was more than a single. The people that come to my shows, that tune into my live streams and that I get to connect with on a deeper level - because that’s what music provides us - needed a name.” MPL UNBOUND, WINTER 2026
She then shared a story: “I was manifesting moving here long before it actually happened. In high school, people start asking you to go on dates and ‘would you be my girlfriend?’ My solid, steady answer was always ‘I don’t think a long-distance relationship is going to work.’ They’d say ‘what do you mean, we go to the same high school.’ I’d respond, ‘Oh yeah, but I’m moving to Nashville.’” “I often play for kids at middle schools, high schools and even elementary. I like to share my story because, really, it’s about following your dream and I want people to know that no matter how big that dream seems or how unachievable, it isn’t. A lot of us are afraid to chase the dream because we aren’t going to catch it. There are so many dreamers out there in this world, some we know and some we don’t that have found their happiness and they did catch up with their dreams. Now they get to call it a reality. My parents ingrained this in me at a young age, and I owe everything to them. If I can be a small part of other people’s journey to the same conclusion, I would be just overjoyed.” She can be found on all social media platforms or www.caitlinmae.com 31
CROSSWORD 1
Crossword test 2
Edited by Taryn Spake
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There’s a Monster at the End of this Puzzle
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15. Miss _____ planted lupines everywhere. 25. If it’s Cloudy, there is a chance of _____ ACROSS 17. This blue cat never loses his cool, even 26. ____ mistook the moon for a bowl of milk. George was one ______ little chimpanzee. 1.ACROSS when his white shoes become dirty. 27. Camilla Cream breaks out with a bad case of DOWN 4. Sam and Dave, in search of something these worrying about others’ opinions. 18. Geisel’s creation wore a top hat and bow tie. spectacular, dig a ____. Joyce’s ___ in the Moon protects children Folk tale of three hungry soldiers who 21. 29. 1. 1. 8. The cow jumped over this, and the bunny from nightmares. pretend to make soup from this. told it goodnight. 22. Steig’s mouse dentist who outsmarts the fox 32. This ___ kid writes about his time stuck in 4. 2. 11. Beloved bear had a corner in his name. middle school “with a bunch of morons.” 23. Make Way for these little wading babies! 12. Mike Mulligan’s shovel was powered by ___ 24. Two girls challenge segregation, sitting on a 35. Little lost fruit bat adopted by a nest of birds The _____ Seed, by Ruth Krauss 13.8. fence, connecting with3. The ____ Side. 38. The best friend amphibian that lives on land 32 11. 5.
ISSUE III CONTRIBUTORS
ACROSS (continued) 40. Boy realizes the penguin isn’t lost, but ___ 41. This mischievous animal follows zookeeper home, only says “Good Night” when he sneaks into bed. 42. Crews’ ___ train teaches colors and car types. 43. Beatrix Potter’s famous ___ of Peter Rabbit 44. On this ____ Day, an African American child in a bright red coat explores his neighborhood. 45. From Dr. Suess, One, two, red, blue ____ 48. Father and children go on a ___ hunt, only to flee back home. 49. Young boy realizes he can make some difference, ____, with one small act at a time. 50. 1940 folktale about a peddler who sells ___. 51. Gloria the dog acts out the safety speeches of her owner, Officer ____. 54. A boy’s pet hamster leads a series of ____ routines on a 10-minute countdown. 57. The dog insists The Bear Ate Your ______. 59. This feathered friend wants to drive a bus, finds a hot dog, and wants a puppy, and more. 61. Vashti realizes she can create elaborate art by starting with a single ___. 62. A classic, this barn spider uses her web to try to save Wilbur the pig from slaughter. 65. This little girl and a bear cub go blueberry picking. 66. Uppercase letters helping lowercase letters in Chicka ____ Boom Boom.
SUBMITTING CONTENT
Scan this code to submit content or letters to the editors FOR CONSIDERATION. Storytellers may submit works of short or featurelength nonfiction, short fiction, book reviews, poetry, photography, artwork, etc.
Word Limits:
Letters to the Editor - limit 175 words Book Reviews - 425 words Short Fiction or Historical Nonfiction* - 1000 words (1 page), or 2000 words (2 pages) Historical Nonfiction* Features - up to 4000 words *Historical pieces will be evaluated for accuracy, narrative structure, and context; facts should be properly cited from credible sources. Writers should follow the notes and bibliography system referenced in The Chicago Manual of Style.
67. Good dog ____ is a mischievous 68. babysitter. 69. Worried little llama , in a red ____ The child of _____ ventures out to find 71. the Big Bad Mouse. Chinese perspective of Red-Riding Hood, 72. ___ Po Po. Petit on a high-wire, in 1974, The Man 73. Who ____ Between the Towers Sylvester the donkey finds a red ____ that grants wishes. 74. Young girl and her father’s nighttime walk to find an __ in the moonlight.
DOWN 1. Harold’s purple drawings, using only this. 2. A cookie feels inadequate, but learns it’s ____. 3. Mackesy’s tale of a ____ that helps a boy, a mole, and a fox find the meaning of home. 5. Suess creature that disappeared into the sky to escape industrial pollution. 6. Alexander had a Terrible, ____, No Good, Very Bad Day. 7. This time, they are Creepy (plural of 13 across) 9. Mora’s kind woman who shares delicious stew. 10. Father learns to style daughter Zuri’s ___. 12. Celebrating rich Black culture from a child’s eyes, Ellington Was Not a ____. 13. Plural of 1 Down, The Day the ____ Quit. 14. I do not like them Sam I Am, I do not like ___ eggs and ham. 16. Friends try to catch a bird, Shh! We Have a ___ 18. This colorful, wormy creature is Very Hungry. 19. If You Give a Mouse a ____, they will only want more. 20. Girl loves asking “Why?” She’s Ada Twist, ____ 23. Harry hated baths, becomes the ___ Dog 26. Toddler Trixie loses ___ Bunny at a laundromat 28. Frogs mysteriously levitate, one ____ night. 30. Gerald ____ speaks in sound effects, like “boing!” 31. Villager Mufaro, and his two ______ 33. Challenges bigger animals to fights, this is one ____ ladybug. 34. 8-year-old Cassie’s Harlem rooftop, __ Beach. 36. Small fish steals a Hat, it is ___ his. 37. Epic adventure of a group of rabbits seeking a new home, on _____ Down. MPL UNBOUND, WINTER 2026
39. This mischievous child always faces an emphatic “No, ___!” 42. This mouse gathers sunlight, colors, and words instead of food for the winter. 45. A classic, this gentle bull enjoys flowers over fighting. 46. From Oge Mora, mother and daughter’s ____ plans go awry. 47. Stories of best friends, two hippos, George and ___ 49. Magical “grandma witch” ___ Nona fixes a pasta flood in an Italian town. 52. Loving tribute to iconic Harlem, through the eyes of a young boy. 53. Boy Max imagines sailing to an island Where the ___ Things Are. 56. Unruly students appreciate their teacher, Miss Nelson, when she goes ____. 58. After a fire, girl, mother, and grandmother save coins to buy a ___ for Mother. 60. This elephant, in vibrant patchwork colors, paints himself grey to blend in, but discovers his “true colors” are missed. 63. Who knew that Dragons Love ___ 64. Bo Willie goes on a musical journey through the Mississippi Delta in search of his puppy, ___ Dog. 66. These cows can type, Click, ___, Moo. 70. Through a day at school, a diverse set of children share, learning __ Are Welcome.
A Kindred Soul, Or, How I Came to Write a One-Woman Play on the Life of Zora Neale Hurston: Ann C. Perry is an actor and writer from Memphis, Tennessee. Ann was last seen in Tennessee Shakespeare’s To Kill A Mockingbird. She also played multiple roles in Tennessee Shakespeare’s Educational Tour of Romeo and Juliet. Other theatre credits include No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs; Blues for an Alabama Sky; From the Mississippi Delta; The Death of the Last Black Man in the Entire World; and Women in Shakespeare. Ann can also be seen in the independent films 100 Lives, The Romance of Loneliness and The Department of Signs and Magical Intervention. Ann writes fiction, plays, screenplays, and children’s stories, and has just started the torture of writing her first novel. Live Rich Die Poor is Ann’s first one person play. What’s More Punk Than the Public Library? Nathan Weinreich holds degrees as a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University; he has worked for motion picture and media companies Lionsgate and Starz. Nathan is currently filling multiple roles at the Memphis Library Foundation, including as writer, photographer, and in adminstrative functions. Caitlin Mae Chases Her Dream In Song: Mark Parsell is a local event promotor and the owner and operator of South Main Sounds, an intimate live music venue on South Main, across the street from Central Station, just a few storefronts south of the iconic Arcade Restaurant. Through his efforts at South Main Sounds and other Mid-South venues, Mark specializes in promoting up and coming musicians and singer-songwriters, as well as established touring artists. Before starting South Main Sounds, he worked extensively in local news on WMC-TV, ABC24, and CW30. BOOK TALK, with STEPHEN USERY. Stephen Usery is the Broadcast Services Manager for The Library Channel TV18 and FM 89.3 WYPL. He is the host and producer of Book Talk, a syndicated interview program that airs weekly on FM 89.3 WYPL and as a podcast, available for streaming on various platforms and via Podbean, https://wyplbooktalk.podbean. com/ The Crossword: Taryn Spake is a local semi-retired school librarian, substitute teacher, avid reader, and a bit of a cruciverbalist in her puzzle-solving and editing skills. She also works parttime at the Friends of the Library Second Editions Bookstore.
CREDITS
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BOOK TALK By Stephen Usery DR. ROXANNE GAY, one of America’s most prominent public intellectuals, is known for her many books, including Bad Feminist and Hunger. Dr. Gay also serves as chair of media, culture and feminist studies at Rutgers University. Earlier in 2025, she completed a project which took many years and much work as editor of The Portable Feminist Reader, published by Penguin Classics. While in Memphis to appear at Bookstock 2025, Dr. Gay also recorded an episode of FM 89.3 WYPL’s Book Talk program with Stephen Usery. What follows is an excerpt from that conversation, which has been lightly edited for brevity.
Bad Feminist By Roxane Gay Harper Perennial
Stephen Usery: Roxanne, you’ve edited collections before, The Best Short Stories of 2018 and The Selected Works of Audre Lorde. How was it approaching such an expansive body of work as the feminist canon? Roxanne Gay: It was a very overwhelming task, because assembling a reader of feminist thought means a lot of different things, and I was going to be drawing from centuries of work. So, trying to make sense of “Where do I begin,” and then of course, “Where do I end?” was daunting, but I love a good challenge. I spent about a year just reading lots and lots of feminist scholarship, theory, and the kinds of pieces that would reflect applied feminism, feminism in practice.
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SU: Looking at your biography and CV, you are a person who stays busy. How do you fit this huge project into an already full schedule? RG: I don’t. You know, it was definitely a few years late, but my editor is an amazing woman named Elda Rotor at Penguin Classics. She was incredibly patient. In fact, I even mention it in the acknowledgments because she was that patient. But you also make time for the things that you want to make time for. My wife, who is also an author, but also a designer and many other things, often says that “busy is a decision,” and she’s right. We do make the kinds of choices that can either allow us to be constantly busy, or that give us time for reflection and space to think, and I’m working on the latter. I just made the time because it had to be done, and I wanted to do it. I thought it was a real privilege to be able to assemble a collection like this and do so from my perspective. SU: There were a couple of lines in Suzanne Stinson’s piece, “Slow,” that really stood out. The one that I think really gets to the heart of things is, “None of us has every story.” RG: Absolutely. Susan Stinson wrote this beautiful essay in the Kenyon Review maybe 15 years ago called “Slow,” and it’s about how she’s a larger woman who, has bad knees and moves slowly, but it’s an appreciation. It’s not self-deprecating in any way. And it was really just a sort of a moment of insight into what it’s like to live in a body like hers. And it was very poetic and very profound. I also teach that essay in a writing workshop this semester on writing “the body.” That was the first essay I taught this semester, because it’s short, which my students appreciate, much to my chagrin. But it’s also very powerful. SU: You alluded to it earlier that feminism is not this monolithic structure, and that there are different approaches to view things. One of the most interesting instances was the contrast between “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving...” by Leila Abu Lughod, and the essay by Mona Eltahawy about her experience of being raped in Egypt. It was interesting to see how people in similar cultures can have very different approaches. RG: Yes. That’s one of the key reasons I included both of those essays. Just because we share a subject position doesn’t mean
that we share the same ideas, or that we understand the world in the same way. We don’t. We tend to be very prescriptive as feminists, like, “Here’s what you need to do. Here’s how you need to live.” And I don’t know that that approach works. It’s not only feminist; I think every group of people does this, but I don’t know that that really reaches the kinds of people we really want to reach. But when it comes to how we look at feminism beyond the United States borders, I tend to believe that women in a given culture know what’s best for them and what their feminism should look like. From here in the United States, I can certainly have opinions about whether or not, for example, Muslim women should wear the hijab, but it’s not for me to dictate. I’m not part of that culture. I don’t understand the nuances of it, per se, and I trust that Muslim women know what’s best for them, and Muslim feminists in particular, know what they want to advocate for and why. I tend to follow their lead, because feminists should not be imperialist any more than anyone else should. SU: I saw you in another interview recently, on the Stephen Colbert show, and you’re talking about a future project you have coming up. RG: Yeah. Several years ago now, everything has been delayed from lots of different things. I was dealing with my mom being very, very sick for several years, but I’m writing a romance novel with Channing Tatum, a little-known actor. (laughs) It’s one of those projects that came my way through my agents at WME. My book agent actually is the one who called me with the news, and she was like, “Are you sitting down?” I said, “no,” and then I said “yes.” I pretended to sit, and she’s like, “No, really, I need you to sit down.” So I sat down, and she said, “Channing Tatum wants to write a book with you.” You could have knocked me over with a feather. I was just like, “What. Come on, like this is funny, but, like, what are you really calling about?” It just felt like a joke. But it turns out that he did actually want to work on a project with me. And I have to finish it forthwith, because it’s been going on for too long now. We’re writing a romance novel together, and it’s called “Down to You.” It’s about two people who, on their 40th birthdays, remember a pact they made in their early 20s where they said, “If we’re still single when we’re 40, let’s just get married.” They get married, and it’s about how they fall in love after that. WYPL BOOK TALK ON PODBEAN
Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist
LISTEN HERE:
I had to deal with budgetary constraints, because for work that’s not in the public domain, that is 75 years after the death of the author, you have to pay permissions. Permissions could be someone says, “Yeah, you can publish it for free,” which never happens. It could be 100 bucks. It could be $10,000 or more. I really had to make some decisions that were challenging, but also
many people were very generous in terms of the permissions amounts, so that we could include as much contemporary work as possible.
MPL UNBOUND, WINTER 2026
BEYOND THE STACKS 13-year-old iReady Award Winner has his Sights Set By Juanita White CHRISTIAN FLEMMONS is a fixture at Hollywood Library. Short for a thirteen-year-old, CJ, as his friends call him, wears his hair cut low in front, bushy in back, and always has a serious look on his face. He rarely smiles - he is a focused teen. CJ is usually found sitting at his usual spot among the library’s bank of computers. Children like him are all over the Memphis Public Libraries each day. These are happy, fun-loving, children who navigate their neighborhoods with both ease and a bit of caution. These children are also serious about their education. Christian finished last school year with a slew of awards. He received the 2025 iReady Award for highest score in reading at Promise Academy. He is proud of that achievement, plus his other year end awards: continuous attendance from grades K-5, Most Improved in Math, and awards for Art and Track. He is surprisingly matter-of-fact about his ability to retain knowledge. Since there are not many books in his home, CJ says he does not do much reading, but he has an uncanny ability to remember what he learns at school even when he thinks he has forgotten. “I can’t explain it. It’s like everything I learn at school I forget but when I get to school, I remember it.” He cited two instances that demonstrate how he stores information in his head. He admits to dozing off at school but “you can wake me up and ask me a question and I will get it right. I don’t know how,” he shrugs. “And one time my sister asked me a random question, and I ended up getting it right.” Reading is not why CJ comes to the library; the library is where he comes to spend time with his friends. They play video games
together, competing with each other across computers. That is better than being outside where CJ utilizes a sixth sense to keep himself out of harm’s way. “I’m the type of person that moves away from a lot of stuff. Something in my body is going to end up telling me something is going to happen, and I’ll end up going the other way.” He recalls an instance when he was walking down the street with friends, but he was being cautious and walking behind everybody. “I ended up turning around and going into the yard and two minutes later I heard shooting.” He literally dodged a bullet. CJ’s drive to do well in school is fueled by his mother. He credits her with keeping him focused on his studies. “My mother motivates me. She works the hardest to get us up for school. Even when she is having a bad day, she will still make herself feel better. When we leave for school, she will tell us to do well and when we come back, she will ask us how we did in school and stuff.” Christian has his sights on graduation. “I want to stay in school because not everyone finishes school.” Though he initially said he did not want to attend college, he had second thoughts almost immediately after saying that. And for good reason. “I just realized that if I don’t go to college, I won’t be able to get a good job. I want to do better than my brothers and sisters have.” He has four older siblings and two younger ones. And his biggest goal? “I want to be a track star - a track sensation.” CJ envisions breaking world records. He ran track for his elementary school team and placed first in the 100-meter dash, third in the 200-meter dash and first in the 4x4 relay. Now that he is in middle school, he looks forward to running track and winning more awards. And if the track career does not work out? “I’ll do art,” he says with a smile. “I don’t draw so much anymore, but I used to. I can draw.” What makes this KIPP Academy seventh grader happy? “Being with my friends makes me happy. Being outside makes me happy. Just living makes me happy.” Photos courtesy of Juanita White; story and profile of Christian Flemmons appears courtesy required, gaurdian permission.
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Introducing the new MPL UNBOUND Youth section
A Publication of the Memphis Library Foundation
The Clouds (Cloud901)
In Your Hands INSIDE:
Cloud901 at 10 A Call for Teen Creativity
WINTER, 2026 VOLUME 1, ISSUE III ISSN 3065-503X
FREE
Youth Unleash The Teen Zines!
Teens, This is Your Space! (No Adults Allowed!)
It has been 10 years since the Cloud901 Teen Learning Lab first opened its doors and filled this space with wonder and learning. Here are just a few highlights. (see full story on Youth page 2)
Robotics labs over the years. Scan below for more on CLOUD901:
WATCH HERE from the MPL digital archives and ProQuest
2017: ENGINE, a teen experimental film directed by CLOUD901 summer intern Nubia Yasin
WATCH HERE
2018: MAKING MOVIES In June 2018, CLOUD901 partnered with the City of Memphis MPLOY Youth Program and gave teens the opportunity to create a series of original short films. Most had never used professional video equipment or editing software. See what their experience was all about!
WATCH HERE
ABOVE: Article that appeared in the Commercial Appeal in June 2016.
2024: Cloud Talk - the Podcast: Teens at CLOUD901 weigh in on their favorite schools around town!
02 a Publication of the Memphis Library Foundation
Youth
The Memphis Public Libraries in Your Hands
03 WINTER 2026
02
IN-THE-KNOW CLOUD901 at 10. The nationally lauded space has been replicated in dozens of systems across the country. It has been a huge hit, and it’s prepared to keep on keepin’ it on.
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EVENTS: GET YOUR COMIC CON ON! Comic Con is open to teens too! And though it may seem a ways away in May (the 30th), it’s time to consider your application for a booth.
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TEEN CHALLENGES It’s only January, and already the first two teen challenges for the year have been announced. Check ‘em out!
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THE ZINES ARE A SCENE! In the arts community of Memphis, collage and zinemaking have taken over by storm. CLOUD901 teens got in the act too.
FLIP IT! HIGHLIGHTS IN THE ‘ADULT-ISH’ UNBOUND
ABOUT THE COVER
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THE BOOKS THAT INSPIRED, GUIDED US Take a stroll on a fantastical adventure, following a trail of children’s books that have inspired, guided, and maybe saved us over the decades.
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SPOTLIGHT: Juanita White introduces us to thirteen-year-old Christian Flemmons, a Hollywood Library fixture who received the 2025 iReady Award and has his sights set high.
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DEPARTMENTS 2 3 4 5
IN THE KNOW YOUTH EVENTS CALENDAR TEEN CHALLENGE YOUTH FEATURE
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For this, our first issue of MPL UNBOUND YOUTH, we were dedicated to publishing youth-created content wherever possible, which of course meant showcasing one lucky teen’s work to serve as the YOUTH cover. Last summer’s 901 Zine Workshop led by MPL’s James Ball was the perfect setting and outlet for teens and their creations. (see pages 5-8 for their finished works) When it came to selecting one of the zines for a cover, the quality of everyone’s work made the decision difficult. However, the color, style, and tone of the work of the teen artist known as “Ajax” best fit the “unbound” sense we wanted to convey for this first edition.
YOUTH 1
IN THE KNOW
CLOUD901 at 10!
Ten Years of Teen Innovation By Beth Thorne When the Benjmain L Hooks Central Library first opened the doors on the Cloud901 Teen Learning Lab ten years ago in 2015, hopes were high that the more than twomillion-dollar investment in the state-of-the-art innovation center would redirect the energies of Memphis youth into creative projects that would lead to post-graduation careers in STEAM and the arts. What resulted was a nationally lauded space that has been replicated in dozens of systems across the country, featured in the November 2021 issue of Smithsonian magazine, and awarded with an IMLS (Institute of Museum and Library Services) National Medal, the nation’s highest library honor. Memphis Public Libraries stacked Cloud901 from the outset with only the best professional-quality studios and equipment. The video and photo lab, art studio, robotics lab, and other makerspaces were designed by professionals in the field, like Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell, owner of Royal Studios, who designed the music recording studio, and stocked with the best equipment, funded by the Memphis Library Foundation and sponsored by local corporations. This past October, MPL’s Cloud staff hosted “Party in the Cloud,” a celebration of teen creativity and innovation where parents, teachers and other Memphians had the rare opportunity to view and participate in all that Cloud901 has to offer. Interactive “Experience Stations”, take-home swag, curated galleries, signature Cloud901 mocktails, and inspiring stories provided these adults with a firsthand exploration of the way Cloud901 creates success in Memphis area teens’ lives. More than just future job prospects, the professionals that staff each area of the Cloud aid teenagers in not just learning the ropes, but in expressing themselves with honesty and pushing the limits of what they can achieve. One of the Cloud’s success stories, Janay Kelley, is on a full ride to grad school at NYU after winning the Indie Memphis Film Fest two consecutive years. She credits Memphis Public Library staff like Amanda Willougby with encouraging her to grow. A decade after Cloud901 became a reality, it is still helping to foster the talent, ingenuity, spark and drive of Memphis’ teens.
ABOVE: Article that appeared in the Commercial Appeal in September 2015. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
CLOUD901’S YOUTUBE PAGE
from the MPL digital archives and ProQuest
YOUTH 2
MPL UNBOUND YOUTH, WINTER 2026
MPL YOUTH PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS FEBRUARY thru MARCH 2026
YOUTH EVENTS FEB
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TUES
FEB
20 FRI
BOARD GAME BUFFET 4 - 5pm • South Library Age: Teens Teens are invited to try a different Board Game every two weeks at South. Card games, Dungeon Crawlers, Deck Builders, Strategy versus all-out chaos - it’s all on the table at Board game Buffet.
MAR FEB
25
WED
CTRL + TEEN FRIDAYS 4 - 5pm • Hollywood Library Age: Teens
Open Makerspace is a daily drop-in opportunity for teens to explore fiber arts like crochet and embroidery, DIY crafts, nail design art, or test new tools and materials.
Create, chill, and take control of the way you end your week. Every Friday, join us at Hollywood for hands-on projects, games, special guests, and a place to just be yourself. No pressure. Just a vibe.
FEB
21 SAT
GARDENING UNIVERSITY: DECORATIVE BIRDHOUSES 11:00am - 1:00pm At the NEW Frayser Library branch at 2220 James Road (shown below) Ages: Teens, Adults
MAR
07 SAT
EAST SHELBY LIBRARY: MOVIE DAY 3 - 5pm • East Shelby Library Meeting Room A Ages: Children thru Teens Come on down and see a movie! .
Get ready to grow your gardening skills at Gardening University! This free series of presentations, led by Master MAR Gardeners, is designed to inspire and inform home gardeners of all experience levels. MON Whether you’re a beginner with a new green thumb or a seasoned expert, you’ll find valuable insights and tips to take your garden to the next level.
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Registration is Required. Use thia QR Code.
OPEN MAKERSPACE (FIBER ARTS, CRAFTS, AND DIY PROJECTS)! 3:30pm - 5:30pm CLOUD901 Makerspace Central Library Program Type: Sewing, Needlework, etc., STEAM arts Ages: Teens
25 WED
SCAN FOR ALL MPL EVENTS
STORYTIME @ LEVI 11 - 11:30am • Levi Library Ages: Customers are invited to bring their children to LevImagination Storytime for a 30-minute-long storytelling session designed to stimulate and engage their little ones’ minds and imaginations! This Storytime will feature children creating works of art from books and many other materials! Storytime will be held in the Children’s area inside of Levi.
MAR
26
THUR
SENSORY STORYTIME THURSDAYS - WEEKLY 10:30 - 11:30am Randolph Library Ages: Join us on Thursdays at Randolph Library for Sensory Storytime! Sensory storytime is a welcoming, interactive environment designed for special sensory seeking children with autism or other sensory integration.
EVERYONE HAS RHYTHM! AN INSPIRATIONAL AND FUN EXPERIENCE FOR BEGINNING & INTERMEDIATE DRUMMERS MARCH 16 - 20,2026 10:30am - 12 noon • North Library Ages: If you shake your head, stomp, or pat your feet, clap your hands, or move your body in some fashion to a beat in a favorite song, you have rhythm and this program is for you. Whether you play drums or not, you will learn how to tap into your natural rhythm by learning simple fundamental drum rudiments and rhythms. You will learn skills such as self-control, teamwork, self -confidence and celebration of oneself and others to help you at school, home, and in life. Corey Travis, Founding Executive Director, Memphis Youth Arts Initiative and M.Y. A. I. Fire Squad Drumline, will be the leading guest facilitator for the program.
Do you have a 901 Pass card and would like to use it to access the Memphis Public Libraries? Check here on how we can activate that for you!
COMIC CON: OPEN TO TEENS TOO!
VENDOR APPLICATIONS OPEN now for MPL Comic Con 2026! This year, the con will be taking place at the Raleigh branch. Comic Con will be May 30, 2026 from 10AM-3PM. Applications will remain open until May 17, subject to availability of space. <<Scan the QR Code for the application. YOUTH 3
TEEN CHALLENGE
The Mission:
When: January 6 – May 16 What: Read 1,000 pages over the challenge period, complete fun reading challenges, and check in monthly at the library for instant prizes. This challenge is perfect for you if: You want to read more! You enjoy sharing your opinions! You want to win great prizes!
Teens of Memphis! Are you a creative between the ages of 13 and 18 with a passion for your city? Do you want to share your unique perspective and show everyone what’s great about Memphis? We’ve got the perfect project for you! The Memphis Public Library is launching Heart of 901, a new media project designed to give you a platform to highlight the best of our city. HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL BE DOING:
The Reward:
Sharing your story: You’ll create short videos, interviews, and other original content that showcases the people, places, and things you love about Memphis.
Every check-in scores you instant prizes like snack boxes, gift cards, cool stickers, and more!
Getting featured: Your work will be featured on city outlets like YouTube, WYPL, and social media, so your voice can be heard!
Complete the entire challenge and get an invitation to our exclusive End-of-Year Challenge Party! This is where the real action is: You’ll be entered into the grand prize drawing for huge rewards.
Building your skills: You’ll gain handson experience in storytelling, videography, and video editing—all valuable skills that can boost your resume and portfolio.
Participating Branches: (Participants can register at these locations and earn a prize at their first check-in!)
If you’re ready to show off your city and build some awesome skills, start here!
Central (Cloud901) East Shelby Frayser Hollywood Parkway Village Raleigh
YOUTH 4
MPL UNBOUND YOUTH, WINTER 2026
901 ZINE WORKSHOP
By James Ball IN THE ARTS community of Memphis, collage and zine-making have taken over by storm. And it makes sense, especially during times like these. By its very nature, collage and zine-making reuse and repurpose old materials into something new and beautiful. So, it’s cheap, easy, and anyone can do it: grandmas at scrapbook club, kids at day care, or even a group of teens at a Cloud 901 Zine Workshop. This past summer, with the help of MPL’s own Jenna Pertl and Jacob Platania, I had the pleasure of facilitating a week-long Zine Workshop funded by the Memphis Grizzlies. Each day as the teens ate snacks and doodled on their projects, we would lead them through a brief presentation about the different aspects involved in the zine-making process. Together we explored the origin of zines through the context of art history and experimented as a group with various art techniques such as collage, found text art,
Workshop photos and Zine images furnished by James Ball. Zines published here with permission from the artists.
contour drawings, mixed-media, and more. Simply put, the goal of the workshop was for each person to create a zine by the end of the week. Since most of the students had never encountered a zine in the wild before, we began with the basics: what is a zine? According to Wikipedia, a zine is “...a magazine that is a noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject matter.” When it comes to crafting zines, the possibilities are endless: fandom zines, social and political commentaries, poetry and creative writing zines, graphic novels, how-to pamphlets, music and band zines, photography booklets, and literally any other combination of medium and interest can be made into a zine. In the workshop, the first step was to have each student brainstorm and figure out the topic and style of their continued next page
YOUTH 5
YOUTH 6
MPL UNBOUND YOUTH, WINTER 2026
project. Not surprisingly, we had some animal-lovers who created zines with cats, dogs, and raccoons, each telling a story of their own. We also had a puzzle zine with anagrams and clever word games, a bestiary zine about various types of mythological dragons, and an infographic zine about the Japanese videogame series Ace Attorney. Over the course of the week, we embraced the spirit of Bob Ross and followed the mantra, “No mistakes, only happy accidents.” Often as artists we can be our own worst critic. To counteract this tendency towards self-doubt and fear of failure, the workshop served as an exercise in letting go of our inner perfectionist. This
901 ZINE WORKSHOP
is a lesson we can all learn from: sometimes in life things happen that are simply out of our control, no matter how much we might want otherwise. But it’s okay to make mistakes and be imperfect; in fact, that’s the only way we can ever hope to learn and grow.
Figuring out how to deal with the messiness and randomness of the world is what growing up is all about. If you go with the flow, it’s much easier to accept what you can and cannot control. Many of the students came into the workshop with little to no background in art; and yet, by fostering this kind of environment rooted in freedom and open self-expression, each student was able to create something unique and personal.
YOUTH 7
YOUTH 9
YOUTH 8
MPL UNBOUND YOUTH, WINTER 2026