The average library cannot afford to host two to three well-known authors, but through the Library Speakers Consortium’s AuthorsLive Program, Dartmouth has made presentations and discussions with dozens of best-selling authors available to residents, according to Library Director Dina St. Pierre.

Sponsored by the Friends of Dartmouth Libraries, residents can participate in live virtual question and answer sessions with these authors or view the recorded discussions later on through the Dartmouth Library. 

St. Pierre said Dartmouth is one of few libraries to offer this program in the area. 

“We're able to offer something we would never be able to offer otherwise,” she said, which was the Library Speakers Consortium’s mission when establishing the program.

St. Pierre emphasized the diversity of authors, genres and subject matter for these programs, highlighting the children's authors who are being featured throughout the month of July.

Residents can explore poetry with Elizabeth Acevedo who is the best-selling author of “The Poet X” on Tuesday, July 23 at 2 p.m. And on Tuesday, July 30 at 2 p.m., Dan Santat, winner of this year’s National Book Award for Young People's Literature for his book “A First Time for Everything,” will teach residents how they can tell their own stories through graphic novels.

In August, residents will have opportunities to explore topics in science and get advice from a former college admissions officer.

“There's something for everyone there and it just really supports our wants, which is to inspire lifelong learning in our community and it really gives us the opportunity to do that,” St. Pierre said.

Marcy Wintrub, Friends of Dartmouth Libraries president, said in early 2022, the library had to cancel its annual film series again due to a spike in Covid and that’s when an email came in advertising the AuthorsLive Program. 

She added that had it been prior to the pandemic, they might not have given the program any thought, but the timing of it all was just right and was officially adopted starting in July 2022.

For 2023, 35 events were held and on average each event would get approximately nine Dartmouth registered participants, Wintrub said, adding sometimes the events would get as high as 20 people. Though about half of those registered will participate live and the others will watch the recordings later.

Getting approximately 330 unregistered Dartmouth views per event, Wintrub said the library conservatively estimates approximately 100 people are watching each recording on average.

As of May, Elizabeth Antonell has participated in 16 live events.

Antonell said she tends to “judge a book by its cover” or may recognize an author and decide to sit in on the interview, adding how registering is “super simple and quick.”

She said, “I keep coming back because there's always at least one that looks interesting. The interviews are well done — sometimes putting the author on the spot.”

Antonell said one of the events that stood out to her was with Pulitzer Prize winning author Colson Whitehead, who she hadn’t read prior “due to the subject matter.” 

However, she said the interview gave her a new perspective on the author. Antonell added, “He seemed really personable and his latest book looks like one I would enjoy, so I’ll be putting in a request for that one: ‘Hell of a Book.’”

“This service is valuable because these interviews give us insights into authors and possibly inspire us to read their work,” Antonell said. “I think it's important to stay curious.”