At the Library 3/16/23

At the Library
by Ruby Brown
 

March is here! The promise of spring and (hopefully) warm weather is in the air. March also happens to be International Women’s Month. Nothing is better to kick off spring by reading a good book about the women of our past and present. I have spent a lot of time reading books on my favorite women that inspire me to work harder and reach for the bigger possibilities that they created. Here are five of my favorite books on some of my favorite encouraging women and documentaries on Kanopy about women reaching for the impossible.

 

Amelia Earhart- I have read every children’s, young adult and adult fiction and nonfiction book on her in this library! Not only was she the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, but she was a strong, funny and fierce woman. And to top it off her death remains a complete mystery. -Fly Girls: How Five Women Defied All the Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O’Brien.

 

Sonia Sotomayor- A fearless lawyer, judge and woman; Sonia is the third woman and first Hispanic woman to be a Supreme Court justice for our country. Her personal biography My Beloved World she dives into her past of who she really is and how she became a fierce fighter for justice. -My Beloved World can be found in English and Spanish at the library.

 

Haben Girma- Is the first deafblind person ever to graduate Harvard Law school. She is a 34 year old woman who was born without being able to see or hear and is thriving as a disability rights lawyer in the USA. Her autobiography is full of life long teachings and a sweet story. -Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law.

 

Elizabeth Packer- A brave soul who was the mother of six children who was put in the Jacksonville Insane Asylum against her own will by her husband. She then set out to prove that she was not insane, but very intelligent and was considered a threat to her husband. In her story The Woman they Could not Silence by Kate Moore, it tells of her fight for freedom.
 

Maya Angelou- A dear woman of quiet strength and dignity who was known as an activist, a poet and an American memorist. She lived a great life full of troubles and hardships, but she never once gave up. These things are spoken about in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou and The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou.

 

The documentaries on Kanopy about women are in a section called ‘Women’s History.’ Daring Women Doctors, Women in the Wild West, The Codebreaker and Becoming Helen Keller are to name a few.
 

Last but not least, we have Classic Cinema presenting us with “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” on March 18th from 12:30 to 3:30 to celebrate International Women’s Month. Have a great week and stop into the library for a book!