Literary Arts will host the culminating author event on March 12, 2026.
PORTLAND, Ore. — August 18, 2025 — Multnomah County Library has selected Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Lovely One: A Memoir for Everybody Reads 2026, the library’s signature community reading project. Justice Jackson will visit Portland next spring for an author talk March 12 that concludes months of engaging library programs and events surrounding the book and its themes. Literary Arts will begin ticket sales for the event in September.
Lovely One is Justice Jackson’s intimate reflection of her family’s heritage through segregation and her own path as the first Black woman to be confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States. The book explores key themes of identity, ambition, and resilience, highlighting the importance of mentorship and perseverance through professional and personal challenges.
Library patrons can pick up a free copy of Lovely One from the library beginning in January. The Library will distribute 8,000 copies of Lovely One through libraries and high schools across Multnomah County early next year as part of the project. This year marks the 24th anniversary of Everybody Reads, the Library’s signature communitywide reading program.
“Lovely One offers us a powerful story of identity and resilience, and a shared foundation for listening and reflection,” said Director of Libraries Annie Lewis. “Justice Jackson’s moving account of her accomplished life and her family’s legacy provides a rich backdrop for conversations about justice and injustice; what we gain from and give to one another; and persistence in pursuit of a dream.”
Justice Jackson was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Miami, Florida. She received her undergraduate and law degrees, both with honors, from Harvard University, then served as a law clerk for three federal judges, including Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson subsequently practiced law in the private sector, worked as an attorney and later as Vice Chair and Commissioner of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and served as an assistant federal public defender. In 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Jackson to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Elevated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 2021, Jackson made history in 2022 when President Joseph Biden nominated her as an Associate Justice. The first Black woman ever confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States, she took her seat on June 30, 2022.
Everybody Reads, a community reading project of Multnomah County Library, is made possible in part by The Library Foundation with author appearance made possible by Literary Arts.
