Lewes Loves Books activities continue Feb. 27
Acclaimed author and former Lewes resident Jennifer Ackerman will return to the Cape Region for a free presentation at 2 p.m., Saturday, March 21, at Cape Henlopen High School, capping six months of community activities focused on “Birds by the Shore,” a revised and reissued edition of her first book.
Organized by the Lewes Public Library and biblion with the support of a dozen local organizations, the inaugural Lewes Loves Books program is part of the American Library Association’s One Book, One Community initiative. The movement, with approximately 150 local groups nationwide, brings people together to read, discuss and explore a single book selected by each community’s organizers.
Since Lewes Loves Books was launched in October, participating organizations have hosted more than a dozen lectures, hikes and other events built around “Birds by the Shore,” an updated version of Ackerman’s iconic “Notes from the Shore,” which she wrote while living in the area in the early 1990s.
The program will include audience questions and a book signing. Admission is free, but preregistration is recommended through the library website, www.lewes.lib.de.us, or by calling the library at 302-645-2733.
“Birds by the Shore” is a book of essays about discovering the natural life at the ocean’s edge: the habits of shorebirds and seabirds, the movement of sand and water, the wealth of creatures that survive amid storm and surf. With a quiet passion and friendly, generous intelligence, it explores the way that landscape shapes people’s thoughts and perceptions, and shows that home ground is often where people feel the deepest response to the planet.
Ackerman has been writing about science and nature for 30 years and is the author of eight books published in more than 20 languages.
In advance of Ackerman’s March 21 appearance, several additional events are planned.
A book club discussion will be held at 4 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 27, at the Lewes library.
A Natural Selections book club discussion will take place at 4 p.m., Wednesday, March 4, at the Lewes library.
Birding in Northern Colombia, South America: a Photographic Travelogue will be presented at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 8, at the Lewes library.
Ptery Iris will lecture on gardening with native plants to sustain wildlife at 10 a.m., Friday, March 13, at Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
Bird Watching 101: the Who, What, Why, How, Where and When of Birding, will be held at 2 p.m., Sunday, March 15, at the Lewes library. Registration is required.
For more information, go to www.LewesLovesBooks.com and www.lewes.lib.de.us.
Joining the Lewes Public Library and biblion as partners in the Lewes Loves Books program are Browseabout Books; Cape Henlopen State Park; the Center for the Inland Bays; the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control; Friends of Prime Hook; the Lewes Chamber of Commerce; the Marine Education, Research & Rehabilitation Institute; Sea Grant Delaware; the Sussex Bird Club; the Sussex County Department of Libraries; the University of Delaware College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment; and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
