- This event has passed.
War Comes Home
December 4, 2014 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
FreeA County Read about our Veterans’ Experience
Come fall, the Contra Costa County Library will host a county-wide read to explore the experience of our veterans as part of Cal Humanities’ statewide read War Comes Home. The Library will distribute books by two New York Times bestselling authors: Karl Marlantes’ What It Is Like to Go to War and Luis Carlos Montalván’s Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him. Both authors will visit the Bay Area for author talks, with Montalván personally visiting each region of the county along with his service dog Tuesday. Additionally, the Library will screen the documentary film Chosin, which features Korean War veterans who fought in the Chosin Reservoir Campaign, one of the most savage and highly decorated battles in American history. The documentary will be followed by a discussion session.
The San Francisco Chronicle called Marlantes, a Vietnam veteran and Rhodes Scholar, mandatory reading for any nation that sends their sons and daughters to war. Montalván served in Iraq, and returned home with both visible and invisible wounds. Until Tuesday tells his story of healing through the help of his service dog Tuesday. Library cardholders can now check out Marlantes’ book at libraries throughout Contra Costa County, and obtain free copies of Until Tuesday beginning Monday, November 3rd.
Contra Costa County’s Veterans Service Officer Nathan Johnson says, “A County Read that helps our community learn about the real sacrifices and challenges faced by our Contra Costa County Veterans community will only help promote a real awareness and understanding of how we can support and serve Veterans. I especially appreciate the County Library’s inclusive effort to engage with Veterans of different generational wars.”
The Library will host War Comes Home events on the following dates:
Monday, 10/6/14 @ 7 p.m. Karl Marlantes Author Talk at Chabot College, Hayward
Tuesday, 11/11/14 @ 6:30 Chosin documentary at El Campanil Theatre in Antioch
Wednesday, 11/12/14 @ 6:30 Chosin documentary at the Orinda Theatre in Orinda
Monday, 12/1/14 @ 10:30 a.m. Montalván Assembly at Kensington Elementary
Tuesday, 12/2/14 @ 7 p.m. Montalván Author Talk at Lafayette Library Community Hall
Wednesday, 12/3/14 @ 7 p.m. Montalván Author Talk at Brentwood Community Center
Thursday, 12/4/14 @ 7 p.m. Montalván Author Talk at Danville Veterans Memorial Hall
These events will be free and open to the public. For more information visit our website at ccclib.org, or contact your local library. California Reads is a program of Cal Humanities in partnership with the California Center for the Book. It is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian. For more information, visit www.calhum.org.