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World Series: Baseball Classics

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It’s almost time for baseball to finish for the year, crowning a new World Series winner. (Next year, Orioles!) But if you feel the need to keep America’s Pastime in your life a little while longer, you can always borrow one of these classic movies (in no particular order):

The Natural
Starring Robert Redford, based on an equally excellent, although rather different, book by Bernard Malamud, The Natural tells the electrifying story of Roy Hobbs as he returns to baseball after a mysterious disappearance. This is a story of true loves, the consequences of choices, and living your dreams, whether it’s about baseball or finding your family. Rated PG

42: The Jackie Robinson Story
The number 42 belonged to Jackie Robinson and has remained the only number to be retired across all of Major League Baseball. This biopic, starring Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford, follows Jackie Robinson as he breaks the color barrier to become the first Black man to play in the major leagues. It pulls few punches about the difficulty of the situation. Rated PG-13

Field of Dreams
If you build it, they will come. If you’ve never seen this Kevin Costner classic, featuring James Earl Jones and Ray Liotta, among others, what have you been doing with your life? Mysterious voices tell Costner’s character to plow under some of his corn and build a baseball field, and then entire squads of dead (and disgraced) ball players appear each night. It’s Iowa, not heaven. Rated PG

Bull Durham
Kevin Costner stars in this one, too, along with Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. Set in the minor leagues, baseball and romantic entanglements combine for a fun, quotable movie that’s mostly about baseball rivalries. Rated R

A League of Their Own
There’s no crying in baseball! This beloved movie about the women who played baseball during WWII features Tom Hanks and Geena Davis, among a star-studded cast. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Rated PG

The Rookie
Dennis Quaid carries this family-friendly Disney movie about being the oldest rookie in baseball. After making a deal with his minor league team that if they win their season, he will pursue a major league career, Jim Morris has to make good on his end of the bargain. Rated G

Trouble with the Curve
This romantic comedy, starring Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, and Justin Timberlake, uses scouting the minor leagues before the draft as the background story. Amy Adams’ character has to leave her high-powered law career to make sure her grumpy dad (Eastwood) is healthy enough to continue scouting. She falls for the game and the guy, having to make some tough decisions along the way. Rated PG-13

Million Dollar Arm
Based on a true story, an American baseball talent agent travels to India to see if he can discover the next big pitching arm in their cricket leagues. Jon Hamm plays the desperate sports agent who goes out on a limb to save his business and, maybe, himself. Rated PG

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Native American Heritage Month Celebration

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A Native man in full regalia dancing, silhouetted against a bright blue sky.

Saturday, November 4 | 11 am – 3 pm
Color Burst Park
6000 Merriweather Dr., Columbia

2 pm: Author Steven Paul Judd
Performers include:
Carly Harvey, Tsalagi and Tuscarora: singer
Brett Walking Eagle, Dakota Sioux: flute player and singer
Angela Gladue, Cree: hoop dancer
Shawn IronMaker, Ft. Belknap: singer
Lance Fisher, Northern Cheyenne: singer
Chris EagleHawk, Lakota/Pueblo: traditional dancer
Four members, Iroquois-St. Regis Mohawk: smoke dancers
Misty Nace & Nathan Solorio, Cree: dancers
Jennifer Night Bird Miller, Cree: jingle dancer

Interview with Steven Paul Judd:

Two Native American teens, one kneeling looking through a magnifying glass, and the other wearing a ribbon skirt and red sneakers.

Steven Paul Judd was a student who loved movies when he decided to apply for a fellowship with ABC Disney. His submission, a speculative script for the television show My Name is Earl, secured him the fellowship and the opportunity to fly to Los Angeles to write. This launched his career which now includes not only screen writing, but also fashion, books, painting, and whatever artistic medium inspires him in the moment. His substantive works often include satire with pop culture themes that lift Native American culture.

Judd, who is of Kiowa and Choctaw heritage, talks about his work at the fifth annual Native American Heritage Month Celebration on Saturday, November 4. Judd says these types of events are important, “because when people think about Native Americans and Native American heritage, they obviously think of the past, but we are also doing things today. Like, I’m a writer. It’s a perfect opportunity to broaden people’s awareness about Native Americans in the arts.”


When asked about the inspiration for his bestselling Rez Detectives series, Judd says he did it for his childhood self, who saw little representation of Native culture in books. “I would have loved to have something like this when I was a kid! I loved comic books,” he says. The book was co-authored with his friend Tvli Jacob.

Things have changed considerably since 2011 when he first hit the Hollywood scene, Judd says. “There wasn’t a lot of indigenous representation in the (television) industry. Now you see a lot more. There’s Reservation Dogs, Rutherford Falls, and of course, Dark Wind, which I write on.”

In his spare time, when he’s not creating, Judd pursues his passion for securing Indigenous treaty rights. “It’s a pet project,” he says. “No one is going to right the wrongs of the past for moral reasons…you have to prove things legally.”

“Dig it if you can,” a catch phrase used by Judd, is the title of an award-winning documentary on his life created by filmmaker Kyle Bell. Catch it on Vimeo.

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The Conversation Continues!

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9/30/23 – Longest Table 2023 event held at Howard Community College.

by Katie DiSalvo-Thronson

On September 30, Howard County Library System held the Longest Table, an annual event to help people form new relationships, build community, learn, and enjoy themselves in the process. A randomized mix of more than 185 participants enjoyed a facilitated conversation with new friends during dinner. Every year we take a snapshot of one big question. This year, it was: “How do you wish we could learn, grow, or progress as a community?” 

People responded that they want MORE community! They wish they knew more neighbors and saw more people coming together for cultural celebrations or to address a community problem. They said they wished there was a little (or a lot) more empathy out there in the world! 

If you also want to see more community connections in our community, we’d love to hear from you at an upcoming Idea Session. We plan to talk about how the library, community groups, and community members like you might build more community connections in our county: 

  1. Virtual Idea Session, Mon October 23, 12 – 1 pm (please register) online.
  1. In-person Idea Session, Wed October 25, 7 – 8 pm, HCLS Savage Branch (please register).  

Both sessions cover the same material.

So, what are some of the details we heard in response to, “How do you wish we could learn, grow, or progress as a community?” 

The biggest group of people, about sixty-five, wanted more social ties and connection. For some, this was aspirational: “We need spaces and opportunities to DREAM together,” or “honor the concept of ‘it takes a village’.” Other comments focused on the basics of building more community, like the person who said we need “relationship building – getting to know your neighbor. Intentional interaction.” One participant said, “We need to come together in groups to have courage to come out. Too easy to just go home.” 

Other people want individuals in our community to connect with people who are different from them, including across generations. Forty-four people wanted our community to have more social and emotional skills or strengths, with an emphasis on listening, empathy, and care. These included:

  • “Listen to different perspectives. Really listen!”
  • “Ability to see our issues through a lens of what is best for our whole community, not just me and mine (a girl can dream).” 
  • “More radical inclusion of people with disabilities.”
  • “Lessening the fear other people have towards Black people.” 

Another subset of people identified specific problems for our community to address. Affordable housing was the most frequently mentioned challenge, along with food, medical care, and finding resources. The need for more opportunities for young people was also a common theme, with an understanding that, “things are not free and accessible in the community for high school students.” A few people brought up improving transportation and wealth disparities in our county. 

Some ideas were sharp: 

  • “To measure community volunteer rate like we do employment and education.”  
  • “The issues of non-connection are systemic so the ‘solutions’ should aim to counter on all levels; ground-up and top-down – individual, communal, strategic.” 

Others were delightfully mysterious! According to one participant, our community needs: “the more.” 

We’re all needed for “the more!” We want to thank everyone who worked on, volunteered for, and participated in the Longest Table. We hope you can join these efforts to build more connections in our community, whether through next year’s Longest Table, the upcoming ideas sessions (register at links above), or another community-building HCLS class. 

Katie is the Community Engagement and Partnerships Manager for HCLS. She loves people, the big questions, the woods, and chocolate.

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Bauder Book Talk with Nic Stone

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Thursday, November 9
4 – 6 pm
Registration required.
HCLS East Columbia Branch
410.313.7700

Dear Nic,

During the pandemic when the world seemed especially grim, I attended a virtual conference where you served as a guest speaker. You stood out to me with your bold avocado earrings and the backstory of how you started writing for teens. Your appearance lifted me up during a time when all I wanted was to return to work in person with my teen library customers.

Fast forward to May 2023, my friend Amanda and I proposed that we host you at HCLS and learned you were indeed coming to my branch, East Columbia, on November 9.

Most people will have read Dear Martin, one of your most powerful works. In this novel, we learn about the life of college-bound Justyce McCallister and his letters to the late Martin Luther King, Jr., written as reflections on being young, black, and escaping the ongoing violence toward unarmed black boys and men. In Dear Martin’s follow-up Dear Justyce, we read about Quan, his circumstances far different than his friend Justyce who helps him while he is incarcerated in a juvenile detention center. Quan sees up close the shortcomings and racial disparities in our flawed criminal justice system. 

Two more of my favorite titles are Clean Getaway and Odd One Out. In Clean Getaway, we see the connection between G’ma (a grandmother) and her grandson “Scoob,” as they go on a road trip exposing family secrets and a lesson in the beauty of intergenerational family ties. While in Odd One Out, we follow Jupe, a gay teen girl and her best guy friend Coop (who may be in love with her). In comes Rae, the new girl in town who may or may not be straight. The love triangle takes Jupe on a journey of self-discovery, exploring gender and sexual identity, and the strength of friendships.

Nic, you write about characters facing hard truths about our society and inspire young people to keep pressing forward, even when it seems impossible to do so. 

My hope is your visit will continue to inspire our young people, those turning your pages and seeing themselves and making the world better.

Sincerely,
Carmen

Bauder Book Talks by Howard County Library System is made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Lillian Bauder, a community leader and Columbia resident. Howard County Library System will present an annual endowed author event, known as Bauder Book Talks, for under-served students in grades 6-8 attending public middle schools in Columbia with high percentages of African American and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) students. Authors and titles selected are high-interest and high-quality on topics of social issues, equity, and related matters. Student participants have the opportunity to hear from and engage the author and receive a copy of the author’s book. The event honors the memory of Don Bauder, late husband of Dr. Lillian Bauder and a champion of civil rights and social justice causes. 

This year, meet famed young adult author Nic Stone as she shares the inspiration behind her critically-acclaimed novel Dear Martin and other featured works.

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Meet the Local Author: Ned Tillman

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Historical Fiction as a Lens for the Future

Monday, Oct 23
7 – 8 pm
Elkridge Branch
with book discussion at 6:30 pm
Registration recommended.


Award-winning author Ned Tillman discusses his new book, Good Endeavor, and how historical fiction provides perspective on the challenges we face today.

In this historical novel full of colorful characters, Ned Tillman conjures up five generations of his family in an engaging look at how they might have dealt with the critical social, economic, and political issues of their time. Centered on the 300-year-old Good Endeavor homestead (where the author grew up), the book incorporates a slew of family stories, unusual family traits, and artifacts passed down through time.

The protagonist discovers artifacts which incites a desire to know more about the past. The book takes the reader through the lives, loves, and losses of five generations, right up to the present day. Along the way the family members encounter vigilante justice, piracy, bounty hunters, abolitionists, suffragettes, land conservationists, barnstorming, union strikes, integration, and war and climate protests.

Tillman is the author of four books — two nonfiction and two fiction. He discusses the value of both genres for telling the stories of our past and how they can be used to get a sense of how life really was like over the centuries. For this book, he considers (per his comments on Amazon):

* What was life really like over the past 300 years?
* How have our key moral issues changed through time?
* How to tell our stories while breathing life and humanity into all of our ancestors.

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Howard County Business Leaders Recommend

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Whether you are an established business leader, wanting to advance your career, or nursing an entrepreneurial hope, HCLS has books for you. We asked business people in our community for book recommendations. These reads, all available to borrow, will take you to your next level!

An upper body photo of the author in lacy black top and long earrings.

Laura Bacon
Founder/CEO, The 3rd
We Should All Be Millionaires
by Rachel Rodgers
This book really helped me to undo some hard conditioning around pricing, wealth, and your own direct ability to affect it. The book feels like a great girlfriend giving you all of her hard learned lessons about building and sustaining.
Available in print, as e-book and e-audiobook

David Woodruff
CEO, APL Federal Credit Union
The Bonds That Make Us Free
by C. Terry Warner
This book was a therapeutic journey for me to build new habits of taking responsibility in my relationships — both professional and personal. While not a traditional “business book,” my experience grappling with these ideas has had significant impact on my effectiveness as a leader and co-worker.
Available in print and as e-book

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Jennifer Jones
CEO, Howard County Economic Development Authority
Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution by Uri Levine
This book advises teams to remain fixed on the problem you are solving for your customers rather than a particular solution. Problems last for a long time, but the solutions that come along can change depending on new technologies and other factors. Focusing on the problem allows you to roll out new concepts and solutions to serve your customers. The book encourages you to be open to change and innovation.

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September Author Events

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Wild Women of Maryland: Grit & Gumption in the Free State

Thursday, Sep 28 | 7 – 8:30 pm
Miller Branch
For adults. Register at bit.ly/wild_women_md

Author Lauren Silberman shares her tales of the Wild Women of Maryland. They may not always be role models, but they are always fascinating! Discover true stories behind the pretend-royal Sarah Wilson to the one-legged WWII spy Virginia Hall. From famous figures like Harriet Tubman to unsung heroines like “Lady Law” Violet Hill Whyte, discover Maryland’s most tenacious and adventurous women.

Silberman is the author of Wild Women of Maryland, Wicked Baltimore, and The Jewish Community of Baltimore.
In partnership with Howard County Historical Society

A black and white family photo showing four African American boys sits atop an image of fire escapes on row houses.

Author Works: David Hugo Barrett

Saturday, Sep 30 | 2 – 3 pm
Miller Branch
For adults. Register at bit.ly/newark_barrett

David Hugo Barrett discusses his memoir, A Newark Childhood. Weaving through African American music, folklore, and more, he recounts a coming-of-age story from kindergarten through high school graduation.

Barrett spent his formative years in Newark, New Jersey. He attended Newark’s public schools before earning his undergraduate degree in mathematics from Rutgers University and a Master’s degree in computer science from Howard University. His community service, here in Howard County, includes director of the board of the Alpha Foundation of Howard County, Inc. and the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, past president of the Howard County Library System Board of Trustees, past chairman of The Alpha Foundation of Howard County, Inc., former director of the Horizon Foundation, and past president of the Kappa Phi Lambda Chapter of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

Language Learning Opportunities at HCLS

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Thursdays, Sep 14 & Oct 12 | 7 – 8:45 pm
Miller Branch
Tuesdays, Sep 26 & Oct 24 | 7 – 8:45 pm
East Columbia Branch

Ages 14 – 18 and adults.
Register here.

Established by the Columbia Association’s International Exchange & Multicultural Program 10 years ago, the World Languages Café provides a venue where people meet to practice a world language with fellow community members, facilitated by a native or fluent speaker of that language. Over the years, it has featured many languages, including *Arabic, *American Sign Language, *Chinese, Dutch, *French, Hebrew, Irish Gaelic, Italian, Japanese, *Korean, Portuguese, and *Spanish. (*Currently available at Miller Branch).

The World Languages Café is free, and registration is preferred, but not required. Please indicate in the registration comments field the language you would like to practice. In collaboration with Columbia Association.

We are also seeking language table hosts. If you are interested in connecting with community members by volunteering to host a table in the language of your choice at HCLS Miller Branch, please email Diane.Li@hclibrary.org or call 410.924.2226.

In addition to the World Languages Café, HCLS Miller and Elkridge Branches offer English Conversation Classes on Wednesday evenings, facilitated by community volunteers. The English Conversation Class (ECC) provides opportunities for adult English language learners to practice speaking and listening skills, increase fluency, improve pronunciation skills, and build confidence to think and speak English in a relaxed and fun way. Participants receive help with vocabulary, idioms, pronunciation, and other practical subjects in daily life.  View a list of upcoming sessions and register here for Elkridge; view here for Miller (no registration required).

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Make Your Reservation for The Longest Table

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Saturday, September 30
Howard Community College
Social Hour: 5 pm
Dinner: 6 pm

Purchase tickets: $15
students: $10

There are many caring, inspirational people living in Howard County. – 2022 participant

There is a place at our table for you! The Longest Table returns to Howard Community College as an opportunity to meet new people and share a meal. The guided conversation is an authentic, engaging, and meaningful way to discuss issues important to our community. Last year, we talked about our inspirations, as well as hunger, housing, and other vital topics.

The evening begins with a social hour, allowing people to mix and mingle with friends, colleagues, and other participants before sitting at the long tables. If you are comfortable with the idea, we ask that you sit at a table with people you don’t already know. It’s the best way to have a wide variety of experiences and ideas present for each group.

Research shows that, “intentionally setting aside time and space to eat with others creates a place for community members to dialogue and share with each other. Community members feel like they have a voice and a stake in their community whether they share nourishing food, or nourishing wisdom.”*

Be nourished by dinner and your neighbors’ wisdom at The Longest Table.

Everyone, high school age and up, is welcome.

Thank you to our sponsors:

  • Gold: Friends and Foundation of Howard County Library System, Howard Hughes Corporation
  • In-Kind: Howard Community College

*Katz, Rebecca, “Passing the Salt: How Eating Together Creates Community” (2012). Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects. Paper 351. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/351

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Bauder Lecture Series: Nadia Owusu

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For adults. Registration required.

Thu, Sep 21 | 6 – 7 pm
Howard Community College
Monteabaro Recital Hall (free parking available)
10901 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia

Join us for the annual Bauder Lecture at Howard Community College, featuring acclaimed author Nadia Owusu.

Nadia Owusu is a Brooklyn-based writer and urbanist. Her memoir, Aftershocks, was selected as a best book of 2021 by more than a dozen publications, including Time, Vogue, Esquire, and the BBC, and has been translated into five languages. It was a New York Times Editors’ Choice pick, named one of Barack Obama’s favorite books of the year, and selected by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai for her Literati book club.

From the Publishers Weekly review:
The biracial daughter of an Armenian mother and Ghanaian father, Owusu’s early life was fractured by her parents’ divorce and multiple moves necessitated by her father’s U.N. career. Living in Rome at age seven, she was visited by her long-absent mother on the day a catastrophic quake hit Armenia, seeding an obsession with earthquakes “and the ways we try to understand the size and scale of impending disaster.”

Nadia Owusu is the winner of a Whiting Award in nonfiction and has received fellowships from Yaddo and Art Omi. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Orion, Granta, The Paris Review Daily, The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, Bon Appétit, and Travel + Leisure. She teaches creative writing at Columbia University and at the Mountainview MFA program at Southern New Hampshire University, and she is the Director of Storytelling at Frontline Solutions, a consulting firm supporting social-change organizations.

Tope Folarin, a Nigerian-American writer based in Washington, D.C., will be introducing Ms. Owusu and moderating the discussion. He serves as Director of the Institute for Policy Studies and the Lannan Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at Georgetown University. He is the recipient of the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Whiting Award for Fiction, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, among other awards. He was educated at Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, where he earned two master’s degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. His debut novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man, was published by Simon & Schuster.

The Bauder Lecture by Howard Community College is made possible by a generous grant from Dr. Lillian Bauder, a community leader and Columbia resident. Howard Community College will present an annual endowed author lecture known as The Bauder Lecture, and the chosen book will be celebrated with two student awards. Known as the Don Bauder Awards, any Howard Community College student who has read the featured book is eligible to respond and reflect on the book in an essay or other creative format. The awards honor the memory of Don Bauder, late husband of Dr. Lillian Bauder and a champion of civil rights and social justice causes.  

Aftershocks was selected by the Howard County Book Connection committee as its choice for the 2023–2024 academic year. The Howard County Book Connection is a partnership of Howard Community College and the Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo). Visit the Howard County Book Connection web page for additional information.

Aftershocks is available from HCLS in print, large print, e-book, and e-audiobook formats. HoCoPoLitSo will also have copies available for purchase at the event.

In partnership with Howard Community College and HoCoPoLitSo.