The Multnomah County Library’s annual community event, Everybody Reads, culminated with a lecture by Matthew Desmond on the evening of March 9. Thanks to our partnership with the library and The Library Foundation, hundreds of students received free copies of Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City and tickets to attend the lecture at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
Literary Arts’ Youth Programs brings large groups of students to each of the Portland Arts & Lectures events, but Everybody Reads is an extraordinary night. While there are normally three or four schools for a PA&L night, this is the entire list of schools (and teachers) who brought students to the Schnitz to hear Matthew Desmond:
Centennial High School (Rita Ramstad)
Center for Advanced Learning (Jeanne Sheets Sagoo)
Cleveland High School (Alex Gordin)
Dahl Family Youth Center (Catherine Volponi)
David Douglas High School (Deb Wheelbarger)
Franklin HS (Sandra Childs)
Grant HS (Paige Battle)
Gresham HS (Tina Roberts)
Lincoln HS (Gary Pearlz, Henry Hooper, Jenny Owen, & William Lynch)
Londer Learning Center (Kristine Bryan)
Multnomah Youth Commission (Andrea Marquez)
Portland Community College (Ramiza Koya & Sue Iversen)
Portland Adventist Academy (Drechelle McCray)
Reynolds High School (Teresa Brandt)
Reynolds Learning Academy (Shannon McCarl)
Sam Barlow High School (Eric Pohl)
Southridge High School (Mariniah Prendergast)
St Mary’s Academy (Maria Fleming)
Wilson High School (Linda Campillo)
Well over 400 students arrived by bus, car, and public transit to the sparkling lights of the Schnitz entrance. We want to give a huge thank you to the teachers and librarians who facilitated these students’ participation–both reading the books and attending this lecture. It was a wonderful, intergenerational evening with our literary community.
