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Star Wars Reads Day

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Star Wars Reads Schedule
October 10, 2020

All events will stream on our Facebook and YouTube channels unless otherwise noted.

All day (9 am – 5:30 pm): Star Wars Reads Goodie Bags at Augusta-Richmond County libraries
Pick up a goodie bag with a book by one of our guest authors  and more while supplies last during library business hours at any of our six Augusta-Richmond County library branch locations.
10:30 am: Star Wars Reads Costume Parade
11 am: Inside the Galactic Studio: Interview and Q&A with author Justina Ireland
1 pm: Inside the Galactic Studio: Interview and Q&A with actor Philicia Saunders
2 pm: Paper Lantern Craft
2:30 pm: Create Your Own Mask at Home Craft
3 pm: Inside the Galactic Studio: Interview and Q&A with author Jeffrey Brown

 

This year’s guests:

Justina Ireland lives with her husband, kid, cats, and dog in Maryland. She is the author of both full-length books and short fiction and considers words to be her best friends. She has written a number of books, including Star Wars books for children. You can find her books Vengeance Bound and Promise of Shadows, as well as the New York Times Bestseller Dread Nation and its sequel Deathless Divide, wherever books are sold. Her upcoming title Star Wars, A Test of Courage, is part of the hotly anticipated High Republic era, 200 years before Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. You can visit her at her website: justinaireland.com.
Philicia Saunders is a film and stage actor best known for her role as Tabala Zo in Star Wars episodes The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker. Born in Los Angeles, her early formal education nurtured her interest in the performing arts. Philicia attended Princeton University, where she participated in live theater performances, and completed an MFA degree program in acting at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. She has appeared in numerous plays, films, and television shows, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Black is King, and Rel.

 
Jeffrey Brown is the author/illustrator/creator of the Jedi Academy and Darth Vader and Son series. When he was a kid, Jeffrey always dreamed of growing up to draw comics and make books for a living – and now he’s living that dream! Jeffrey has written a number of autobiographical books for adults, humorous graphic novels about cats, and parodies like Incredible Change-Bots. He also writes the Lucy & Andy Neanderthal and Space-Time! Series. Jeffrey has also returned to a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away with his latest Star Wars book, Rey & Pals.

 

 

History of Star Wars Reads

In 2012, the Augusta-Richmond County Public Library System hosted its first annual Star Wars Reads Day Literacy Event.  Although 2012 was our first year, George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars franchise, launched the initiative in 2011.  The goal of the initiative was to engage students on the importance of reading by using Star Wars as the spark.  Today, there are hundreds of Star Wars Reads Days that take place around the country throughout the month of October.

 
In 2012, Dottie Demarest approached Corey Rogers about the possibility of showcasing part of his Star Wars collection as a way to get young readers and researchers interested in the Georgia Room.  She created the Skywalker Family Tree to go along with the display.  They discovered that instead of having to create a new event, they could use existing Star Wars Reads Day and make it a library-wide celebration.

 
In the first year, much of the planning was done through with the Children’s Department and other library staff, including Eileen McCoy, Kenneth Benson, and Aspasia Luster. Roughly 50 patrons attended our first Star Wars Reads Day and enjoyed four planned events:  art activities, Star Wars Trivia, a Star Wars-themed costume contest and a tour of the Georgia Room and the Star Wars collectibles display

 
In the years since, the number of events has grown significantly to include Star Wars book giveaways, a live orchestra, green screen photography, reading stations, fan art, a silent auction, an exclusive literacy-themed print, and much more. One of the highlights since 2015 has been the presence of special guests with direct connections to the Star Wars Universe.  In that year, the Library welcomed hometown girl Catherine “Cat” Taber. Cat does several voices for both the Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels cartoons but is known most for voicing Padme Amidala in the Clone Wars cartoon.  The 2016 guest of honor was Julie Dolan, the voice of Princess Leia on Star Wars Rebels. 2017’s featured guest was Nalini Krishan, Jedi Knight Barriss Offee from Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones movie. 2018 featured bestselling author of the Origami Yoda series, Tom Angleberger. 2019 featured Star Wars: The New Jedi Order author Greg Keyes.