As the library director of the Seaside Public Library, one of the things I am very proud of is our collaboration with the Astoria Public Library and Warrenton Community Library.

Together we work with the five school districts in the County to provide free library cards for all children in Clatsop County and an annual countywide summer reading program. This program is called Libraries Reading Outreach in Clatsop County, or, Libraries ROCC.

We host an annual fundraiser every year at the Seaside Convention Center. This year’s event, Write On Seaside! the third annual event, will be held on April 14, starting at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the door. With your ticket you will have light bites and wine to enjoy. ‘

We will have eight authors there who have written short stories that they will share excerpts from throughout the evening. You will have the chance to bid on naming the characters in their stories as well as the silent auction items and live auction for the chance to bid on one of the six little free libraries up for auction to make one your very own. I’ve included an excerpt from one of the short stories below. Please join me at the convention center on Sunday, April 14. It promises to be a very fun evening.

2019 Libraries Reading Outreach Fundraiser story excerpt, “What Sets Us Free,” by Dayle Nelson:

Daily patterns shape and root each of us: seeing or touching the faces of those who know us best, the inexpressible joy of walking under leafy trees and feeling sunshine and raindrops, marveling at the profusion of stars on a clear night, holding someone’s hand, the songs of thrushes and meadow larks, the taste of honey, the soft pillow as you fall asleep. When all that is familiar and loved is suddenly banished in one arbitrary stroke, it is as if an emergency surgery has occurred and a limb has been amputated without your consultation or consent, and now you are expected to adjust and go on as if you are OK. But you are not OK. This was how Daria felt. Knowing she had an immigration court hearing in a month, that her parents had hired an attorney for her, that her university roommates were caring for her cat, and that her school advisor was advocating for her so she wouldn’t get kicked out of the university — none of it lessened the trauma or lifted the black fog that enveloped her existence.”

If you want to find out the rest of the story, join me at the convention center on Sunday, April 14. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Libraries Reading Outreach in Clatsop County program and the Seaside Public Library Foundation’s long term goals for the Seaside Public Library.