Effie Lee Morris Lecture Series

Nicola Yoon Speaks June 2

Join acclaimed young adult fiction writer Nicola Yoon on Thursday, June 2, at 6 p.m. for the 26th annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture, in a virtual-only event.

Yoon is the New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything, filmed in 2017; The Sun Is Also a Star, filmed in 2019; and her new novel, Instructions for Dancing. She is a National Book Award finalist, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book recipient, and a Coretta Scott King New Talent Award winner. Born in Jamaica, she immigrated to New York City at age 11.

Yoon’s talk focuses on the rich diversity, and the challenges, of the immigrant experience, as seen through her own and her characters’ lenses.

This event is sponsored by the Main Children's Center and the African American Center, in partnership with the Friends of the SF Public Library and the Women's National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter.

For more information, call (415) 557-4554, or email ChildrensCenter@sfpl.org.

26th Annual Effie Lee Morris Lecture with Nicola Yoon – June 2, 6 p.m.

Registration required: https://on.sfpl.org/ELM_2022

Effie Lee Morris – A Woman Ahead of Her Time

The Effie Lee Morris Lecture series at SFPL honors the values embodied by Effie Lee Morris (1921 – 2009), the first SFPL coordinator of children’s services, the first Black president of the Public Library Association, and a founder of the San Francisco chapter of the Women’s National Book Association.

Ms. Morris was a tireless champion of diversity, inclusivity, and the rights of all young people to read, learn and create. She initiated the first annual celebration of Black history for youth at the Cleveland Public Library, and at the New York Public Library was the first librarian whose work focused on the needs of children who were blind or visually impaired. At SFPL, she was especially noted for her commitment to personally visit underserved communities to get books into the hands of all our youth.