County Library System Chosen For National Poetry Demonstration Project

BA/poetry.pr 97-35 Contact: Lucy Freeman, 301-654-8115

COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM
CHOSEN FOR NATIONAL
POETRY DEMONSTRATION PROJECT For Immediate Release: February 10, 1997

The Montgomery County Department of Public Libraries has been selected as one of
50 national sites which will host a new program designed to renew interest in poetry.
Sponsored by the Poetry Magazine-Modern Poetry Association (MPA) and the
American Library Association (ALA), "Poets in Person" is a reading, listening, discussion
program focusing on American poetry. The program is also supported by the National
Endowment for the Humanities.
Locally, there will be a four-program series at the County Detention Center for
inmates and the Chevy Chase Community Library for the general public. The Detention
Center was chosen because many inmates write poetry and the Chevy Chase Library was
selected because it serves a population of many writers. Both series will be conducted by E.
Ethelbert Miller, a published poet and director of the African American Resource Center at
Howard University.
The library will receive materials to conduct the program, and local Project Director
Lucy Freeman, retired Poolesville librarian and Joan Deacon, Detention Center librarian, will
attend a two-day national training session in February. It is expected that the program will
-more-

COUNTY LIBRARY SYSTEM CHOSEN .POETRY PROJECT 2-2-2-2

serve as a model for other programs throughout Maryland.
Department of Public Libraries Acting Director Que Bronson said, "I am delighted the
library will be part of this project and can offer such new opportunities to the community."
The "Poets in Person"sessions will be held at the County Detention Center in the Fall
and at Chevy Chase Library in Spring 1998.
For more information on the program, call Lucy Freeman at 301-654-8115.

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