“The Personal Librarian,” by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray, will be Forsyth County Public Library’s 2022 On The Same Page community read. The novel is based on the true story of Belle da Costa Greene, who became Gilded Age titan J.P. Morgan’s librarian in 1905. Greene was a charismatic personality, who helped Morgan, and later his son, acquire priceless manuscripts and art objects. But Greene had a secret that could destroy the career she had worked to build—she had chosen to live as a white woman although her father was Black.
Our On The Same Page celebration will take place from Sept. 22 to Nov. 19, and will feature events, programming, book club discussions and conversations around the book’s themes. Community partners for the event include: the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Library, Bookmarks, Arts Council of Winston-Salem, the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University, the C.G. O’Kelly Library at Winston-Salem State University and more. “We thank the community for helping us choose this year’s selection,” said Library Director Brian Hart, “and we look forward to putting together a robust program of reading and discussion in the fall.”