Minh Lê!

We know that nothing is better for encouraging literacy and a passion for books than bringing authors directly into classrooms. Through the generous support of the Assistance League of Mid-Missouri, Daniel Boone Regional Library, the CPS Foundation, and all our donors and sponsors, we are able to bring authors to students and also to purchase additional copies of their books for school libraries.

In 2022, our “Authors in the Schools” program will be back with a combination of live and online events. As always, our programming will be available for students from kindergarten through 12th grade. This year, our overriding theme is “visual literacy,” which is the ability to comprehend, make meaning from, and communicate through visual means. Visual information can be processed much more quickly than standard text, making it an important tool in reaching readers of all backgrounds, original languages, and abilities.

This year we have not one, but two, keynote speakers for the Authors in the Schools program. First of all, we’re very pleased to welcome back Minh Lê. Minh was one of the big hits of last year’s online program, and we are excited to welcome him to Columbia in person! He will host live events in three Columbia elementary schools on Friday, as well as a session open to the public on Saturday morning at Daniel Boone Regional Library. To register for this event, please click here.

Minh Lê is the author of Drawn Together (winner of the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature) illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, Let Me Finish! (named an NPR Best Book of 2016) illustrated by Isabel Roxas, and The Perfect Seat illustrated by Gus Gordon (all published by Disney-Hyperion). He has also written Green Lantern: Legacy, a middle grade graphic novel (illustrated by Andie Tong) for DC Comics. In addition to writing books, he has written for a variety of publications, including the New York Times, The Horn Book, NPR, and HuffPost.