Libraries have always been the place where book lovers of all stripes congregate, so it makes perfect sense that a local library would help support and promote authors in its own community.

In this fostering spirit, San Diego Public Library for the past 49 years has been sponsoring an annual month-long Local Author Exhibit at its Central Library downtown. The showcase for this year features more than 300 local authors, whose 2014 published works will remain on display throughout the month of February in the Dickinson Popular Library located on the first floor of the San Diego Central Library @Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common. Needless to say, I was happy and thankful to participate in this special event.

Also, over the next couple of months a series of readings and book talks by local authors will take place at various branch libraries around the San Diego County. I will be giving a presentation on Once upon a Mulberry Field at the Del Mar Library next Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 6:30 pm, and another one at the Poway Library on Saturday, April 18, at 11 am. I’m looking forward to meeting local book lovers and sharing my story with them.

So if you’re an author out there, make sure you have looked into all the opportunities to connect with readers in your community, especially through cooperation with your local libraries. Even if they don’t have specific programs like the ones mentioned above, most libraries do reserve a section to display the works by local authors. There’s no reason for any author to miss that kind of exposure, don’t you agree?

Happy writing—and reading, of course!