Luncheon Honoring Women's Role in the History of Public Libraries

The Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Libraries' 2014 Centennial Celebration theme is Changing Lives, Transforming Communities, and in honor of Women's History Month, the library system will host a celebratory luncheon on Saturday, March 15, from 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. at Maestro's Restaurant in the Straz Center for the Performing Arts, 1010 N. W.C. MacInnes Place in downtown Tampa. The event is one of several to take place in 2014 in honor of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System's 100th anniversary and costs $19.14 per person. The luncheon, focusing on the influential role women have played in the history and development of our libraries, will feature Connie May Fowler and Doris Weatherford.

Fowler, a local Florida native, is an award-winning novelist, memoirist, and screenwriter. She recently published her latest bestseller, How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly. Weatherford, local historian and author of Real Women of Tampa and Hillsborough County: From Prehistory to the Millennium was awarded the American Library Association “2013 Outstanding Reference Source” for her latest title, Women and American Politics: History and Milestones. Both speakers will be available after the program for a book signing.

The library will also be presenting its inaugural Helen Virginia Stelle Award, an annual lifetime achievement award that will recognize local women who have played major roles in library advocacy.

Reservations are required and must be received by March 10. To make reservations, contact the Friends of the Library at 813-273-3616 or via email at thplcentennialevents@gmail.com. Parking is available at the Poe Garage, located at N. Ashley Drive between W. Cass Street and W. Gasparilla Plaza for a fee. The Poe Garage is connected to the Straz Center by a covered pedestrian bridge.