April 18, 2018
Shawnee State University is pleased to welcome author Mindy McGinnis to campus for a special lecture as part of Books Build Bridges at 9 a.m. on April 26 in the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts.
McGinnis wrote “Not a Drop to Drink,” a story about a young woman defending her pond in a world where water has become a scarcity. It was published in 2013 by HarperCollins and was a 2015 feature title in the State Library of Ohio’s Choose to Read Ohio program.
McGinnis is a young adult librarian from Cadington, Ohio. She graduated from Otterbein University magna cum laude with a B.A. in English Literature and Religion.
“Not a Drop to Drink” was distributed to every eighth-grade student at Bloom-Vernon, Green, Minford, Northwest, Notre Dame, Portsmouth, Portsmouth West, Sciotoville and Valley school districts as part of a community read project. The program is a collaborative effort involving the Portsmouth Rotary, The Scioto Foundation, Portsmouth Public Library, Shawnee State University, South Central Ohio ESC (SCOESC), Portsmouth Area Ladies (PALS) and the Southern Ohio Medical Center (SOMC).
Previously, the Portsmouth Rotary donated dictionaries every year to local schools as part of its literacy program, but as technology changes, fewer physical dictionaries were being used in classrooms. Instead of donating dictionaries this year, Rotarian Jay Willis arranged for McGinnis to come speak in the Portsmouth Area and The Scioto Foundation provided a grant of $1,700 to the Portsmouth Public Library to obtain the rest of the books.
In preparation for McGinnis’s visit, the Portsmouth Public Library’s Young Adult Department will host a series of public events at its Portsmouth branch location. For a listing of events, please go online to Portsmouth Public Library’s website.
During her visit, McGinnis will speak to students in public relations and young adult literature classrooms at SSU.
“I am excited about the opportunity to participate in this literacy project,” said Janet Stewart, Dean of Library Services at the Clark Memorial Library. “In such a short time, this project came together with many supportive and enthusiastic partners. This is an excellent opportunity for Shawnee State’s library to partner with members of the community in a meaningful way.”
For more information about McGinnis, please visit her website at mindymcginnis.com.
For more information about McGinnis’s lecture at SSU, please contact Mistie Spicer, Coordinator of Academic Events & Partnerships at mspicer@shawnee.edu or (740) 351-3635.