Tacoma Public Library, City of Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards, sponsors, and community partners are pleased to announce a full lineup of unique programs, events, workshops, and author talks for Tacoma Reads 2023.
Tacoma Reads is a city-wide reading program that seeks to engage the community in dialogue around contemporary themes.
For 2023, Mayor Woodards selected the theme Home: Housing Insecurity in our Community.
“This is a topic that is central to Tacoma right now, and I invite our community to engage with it through reading, discussion, and attending programs,” said Mayor Woodards. “We must work together to undo the stigmas around homelessness, and Tacoma Reads creates powerful opportunities to do so.”
Author and national poverty and child welfare expert and advocate David Ambroz headlines the season. His book – “A Place Called Home: A Memoir” – was chosen as the main title.
“A Place Called Home: A Memoir” depicts childhood poverty and homelessness as it is experienced by so many young people who have been systematically overlooked and unprotected. It’s at once a gripping personal account of deprivation—how one boy survived it, and ultimately thrived—and a resounding call for readers to move from empathy to action.
On Saturday, Nov. 4 at 3 p.m., Mayor Woodards will host David Ambroz in conversation at William W. Philip Hall at the University of Washington Tacoma. Audience members will have an opportunity to participate in a Q&A and have books signed by the author. Copies can be purchased at King’s Books or Parable either before or onsite at the event.
The event is free and advance registration is open now.
“We are honored to host David Ambroz as our headlining author, as he has a valuable first-person perspective on the complex issue of homelessness,” said Library Director Kate Larsen. “Ambroz’s powerful story is a resounding call for readers to move from sympathy to action.”
As in prior years, Tacoma Public Library also selected titles for young adults and children and families so that readers of all ages can participate.
The three titles, all available from Tacoma Public Library:
- Adults: A Place Called Home: A Memoir by David Ambroz
- Teens/Young Adult: Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
- Kids and Families: HOME by Tonya Lippert
Program highlights:
- Sept. 14, 21, 22, 28, Oct. 6, 19 (Tacoma Public Library locations): Tacoma Reads Art Workshop with Tacoma Art Museum
- Saturday, Sept. 16 (Parable): Tacoma Reads and Building Bridges present: Finding Home in Tacoma—A Community Conversation about Homelessness
- Saturday, Oct. 7 (Parable): Tacoma Reads…ALOUD! A Teen Open Mic Event
- Saturday, Oct. 21 (Wheelock Library): Tacoma Reads: Little Literary Fest
- Saturday, Oct. 28 (Tacoma Community College): Tacoma Reads: Undoing the Stigmas of Homelessness
- Saturday, Nov. 4 (University of Washington Tacoma): Tacoma Reads: Author David Ambroz in Conversation with Mayor Woodards
More information about Tacoma Reads titles and a full schedule of events is available at tacomalibrary.org/tacomareads.
