CALS Announces August Author Talks
Partnership with consortium brings bestselling writers and thought leaders

LITTLE ROCK, AR – The Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) has joined the Library Speakers Consortium along with more than 150 other library systems nationwide to provide livestreamed author talks every month with not only novelists, poets, and fiction writers, but also experts on business, careers, personal growth, and lifelong learning. A new and exciting round of author talks from New York Times bestselling authors has been announced for August. Events are virtual and free to attend, but registration is required at cals.org.

August 3, 1 p.m.  
Dr. Marcia Chatelain, Franchise:?The Golden Arches in Black America
Dr. Chatelain will discuss her Pulitzer Prize-winning book,?Franchise:?The Golden Arches in Black America.?A professor of history and African American studies at Georgetown University, Chatelain set out to answer the question of how fast-food restaurants so thoroughly saturate black neighborhoods.  
McDonald’s has often been blamed for the rising rates of obesity and diabetes among Black Americans. In?Franchise, Chatelain uncovers a surprising history of cooperation among fast-food companies, Black capitalists, and civil rights leaders, who–in the troubled years after King’s assassination–believed they found an economic answer to the problem of racial inequality.

August 9, 8 p.m.
Liz Moore, Long Bright River
New York Times bestselling author Liz Moore will discuss her international bestseller,?Long Bright River,?and her other works.?The novel takes place in Philadelphia, where Moore has lived for a decade. She traces the story of two sisters estranged from each other but bonded by their choices. Mickey is a cop, and Kacey lives on the streets in the vice of addiction. When Kacey disappears, Mickey panics over her sister’s safetyobsessed with finding the culprit and her sister before it’s too late. Drawing on deeply personal volunteer work, Liz Moore spins a story that is both graphically honest and dignified. Long Bright River puts a very human face on the effect that addiction can have on generations of families and communities.

August 22, 8 p.m.
Michele Harper, The Beauty in Breaking
In this talk, Michele Harper will cover many of the lessons she’s learned on her inspiring personal journey and the success of her New York Times bestselling memoir,?The Beauty in Breaking.  
As Harper learned to become an effective ER physician in Philadelphia in the years following her divorce, bringing insight and empathy to every patient encounter, she understood that each of us is broken—physically and emotionally. How we recognize those breaks, how we try to mend them, and where we go from there are all crucial parts of the healing process.

August 25, 11 a.m.
Liz Wiseman, Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger and Multiply Your Impact
New York Times bestselling author, researcher, and executive adviser Liz Wiseman will talk about her latest book,?Impact Players: How to Take the Lead, Play Bigger and Multiply Your Impact,?and her other work.
In Impact Players, Wiseman asks the question, why do some people break through and make an impact while others get stuck going through the motions? In every organization, impact players are indispensable colleagues who can be counted on in critical situations and consistently receive high-profile assignments and new opportunities. Drawing on insights from leaders at top companies, Wiseman explains what the most influential players are doing differently, how small and seemingly insignificant differences in how we think and act can make an enormous impact, and why– with a little coaching–this mindset is available to everyone who wants to contribute at their highest level and do more meaningful work. 

For more information visit cals.org or contact Mark Christ at 501-918-3069 or [email protected].

About CALS
The Central Arkansas Library System includes 15 branch libraries located in Little Rock, Perryville, and throughout Pulaski County. CALS has the largest research collection in central Arkansas. Most of its more than one million items may be reserved online and picked up at any branch that is convenient to the patron. Library Square, the library system’s downtown Little Rock campus, includes the Main Library, as well as the Ron Robinson Theater, the Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art, and the Galleries & Bookstore at Library Square.