Scranton Reads Events Include Presentation with Author and Youth Dialogue

The Scranton Public Library System is hosting a series of events this February for its annual Scranton Reads event. This year’s selected title, Never Caught: The Story of the Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge, is written by Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar and was a finalist of the National Book award. In her work, Dunbar provides historical insights into lives of the Washingtons during the founding of our nation and the concurrent lived reality of those that they enslaved, one of whom was Ona Judge. Never Caught is Ona’s story of freedom and survival.

The Scranton Public Library will host author Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar on Wednesday, Feb. 17 from 6-7 p.m. The author will give a presentation on the research and writing process she conducted during the writing of her book. This will be a 30-minute presentation with time at the end for questions from the audience. To register, visit www.albright.org, email jserrenti@albright.org, or call (570) 348-3000 ext. 3023. All registered attendees will receive the Zoom invitation link.

As a part of the Scranton Reads 2021 events, The University of Scranton will host a virtual youth dialogue for Scranton area middle and high school students on Thursday, February 25 at 3 PM.  This dialogue will offer students an opportunity to come together to discuss Dunbar’s book and to reflect on our nation’s founding ideals and the lived reality of slavery and racism. Parents and guardians can register their students here. 

Scranton Reads is a joint venture between the Scranton Public Library and the City of Scranton to host an annual event which seeks to encourage reading among people of all ages and to unite the community by means of discussions and activities featuring a specific book.

A complete list of Scranton Reads 2021 events and information on this year’s book “Never Caught” by Erica Armstrong Dunbar can be found on the Scranton Reads website: scrantonreads.org. Those interested in participating in any of these events can register on the Albright Memorial Library’s website, albright.org. Interested participants can obtain a free copy of this year’s Scranton Reads book by visiting any Scranton Public Library location. For questions on the Scranton Reads program, contact Jessica Serrenti at jserrenti@albright.org or (570) 795-4315. For information on the youth dialogue, contact the Office of Community Relations at community@scranton.edu.