Rainbow Rowell Day 1 - Panel at MSU

Tonight was our first event with Rainbow Rowell, author of Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, and Attachments. 

Rainbow was originally scheduled to be in the Twin Cities (Anoka-Hennepin, specifically) last month as the culmination of the Rock the Book optional summer reading program in that district. Addendum was going to be the bookseller for the events. 

Then one parent objected to the content of the book, eventually resulting in disinviting Rainbow from her speaking engagements (she was, ironically, scheduled during Banned Book Week) and attempting to remove her book from library shelves in Anoka-Hennepin.    
 

Saint Paul Public Library decided to invite Rainbow to be the 2014 author for their Read Brave program in February, but also wanted to bring her to the Twin Cities for several events this fall.
 

The first event was a panel discussion, held at Metropolitan State University, called Reading Rainbow Rowell: A Community Forum on Kids’ Right to Read.

Members of the panel included, from left to right:
Welcome: Provost, Ginny Arthur
Moderator: Sasha Aslanian
Rainbow Rowell, author
Julie Blaha, president, Anoka-Hennepin Education Minnesota
Two members of Teens Know Best
Maureen Gormley, Dakota County Library
Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen, MLIS faculty, St. Catherine University

The panel was incredibly interesting and informative, and had panel members and guests alike alternately laughing and crying. 

Afterwards, Rainbow was available for book signing and photos. 

Fancy Eleanor & Park nails!

A big thank you to MSU, SPPL, Rainbow, and her sister Jade. The whole evening was a success, and was a great start to Rainbow's events with SPPL and Addendum!