Join us for our first Library Lecture of 2021 with the NEA Big Read - Leon County Kickoff event of Lab Girl by Hope Jahren on Thursday, Feb., 11 at 6:30 p.m. Keynote speaker Dr. Stephenson will lead a discussion of her personal journey as a Black woman in STEM and how her intersecting passions help to change the narrative of science education empowering young people to discover their highest potential in her presentation Changing Faces in STEM: Heartwork Grounded in Service, Science, and Scholarship".
From Dr. Stephenson: "How often do we take time to reflect on what motivates us to do what we love most? My WHY is defined by my multiple identities and intersecting passions, Black, Woman, Scientist, Scholar, and Servant Leader. Collectively, they empower me to work to change the narrative of what a scientist looks like and give youth especially those underrepresented in STEM spaces reflections of who they can become."
Sign up for the webinar here.
February
March
Event
|
Date
|
Time
|
Location
|
Memoir Feedback Workshop |
Mon., March 1 |
6:30 p.m. |
Click here for more information. |
Little Read: Celebrating Women Scientists |
Tues., March 2, 9, 16 & Wed., March 24 |
6:30 p.m. |
Click here for more information. |
Leon County Panel for Mental Health |
Thurs., March 4 |
6:30 p.m. |
Click here for more information. |
Sprout House Workshop |
Tues., March 9 |
4 p.m. |
Click here for more information. |
Teen Zine Memoir Workshop |
Thurs., March 11 |
4 p.m. |
Click here for more information. |
Pop-Up Book Club reading Lab Girl |
Sat., March 13 |
10 a.m. |
Click here for more information. |
She Blinded Me with Science Trivia Night |
Fri., March 19 |
6:30 p.m. |
Click here for more information. |
Virtual Nature Walk |
Sat., March 20 |
10 a.m. |
Click here for more information. |
Robotics & Coding 101 for Kids |
Tues., March 23 |
6:30 p.m. |
Click here for more information. |

Throughout the month of March, submit your poem or short story memoir, or zine. Submissions will be considered for a printed publication that will be added to the LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library collection.
Requirements:
- Word or page limit - Short story: 5,000 - 10,000 words (5 - 10 pages); Poem: 1 page only
- Font style and font size recommendations - Calibri / Arial ; Size 12
- Double spaced
- Name, title, email address on document
- File format recommendations - Word (docx) or PDF
**Please note that if chosen for the printed publication, all works will become publicly viewable.
Submit your memoir here and view the requirements here: https://tinyurl.com/LCMemoirSubmission
Memoir submission deadline is March 31, 2021.


An illuminating debut memoir of a woman in science; a moving portrait of a longtime friendship; and a stunningly fresh look at plants that will forever change how you see the natural world,"--Amazon.com. Jahren has built three laboratories in which she's studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. She tells about her childhood in rural Minnesota with an uncompromising mother and a father who encouraged hours of play in his classroom's labs; about how she found a sanctuary in science, and the disappointments, triumphs and exhilarating discoveries of scientific work. Yet at the core of this book is the story of a relationship Jahren forged with Bill, who becomes her lab partner and best friend. Their sometimes rogue adventures in science take them over the Atlantic to the ever-light skies of the North Pole and to tropical Hawaii, where she and her lab currently make their home.
Click here to check Lab Girl out today.


Hope Jahren is an award-winning scientist who has been pursuing independent research in paleobiology since 1996, when she completed her PhD at University of California Berkeley and began teaching and researching first at the Georgia Institute of Technology and then at Johns Hopkins University. She is the recipient of three Fulbright Awards and is one of four scientists, and the only woman, to have been awarded both of the Young Investigator Medals given within the Earth Sciences. She was a tenured professor at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu from 2008 to 2016, where she built the Isotope Geobiology Laboratories, with support from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. She currently holds the J. Tuzo Wilson professorship at the University of Oslo, Norway.











NEA Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book.
The LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library System is one of 84 not-for-profit organizations to receive a grant to host an NEA Big Read project between September 2020 and June 2021. The NEA presents NEA Big Read in partnership with Arts Midwest.