By William Renner, Reference Librarian
Speer Memorial Library in Mission invites you to join us on Tuesday, March 2, for a discussion of the book Educated, to take place via Zoom at 5:30 p.m. in Spanish, and at 6:30 p.m. in English. We will send a link for this virtual meeting to all who sign up.
For 2021, we are providing an added incentive to participate in our Morton’s Book Club. Speer Memorial Library was the recipient of the Texas Reads Grant and will make free copies available, while supplies last, to people who sign up for our book discussions. This project is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services and Texas State Library and Archives Commission (grant number TXR-21008). (2021)
In this biographical story, the author talks about her childhood in rural Idaho, growing up in a survivalist family. Her father tended the family farm, sold scrap metal, worked in construction, and hoarded resources in preparation for the End of Days. Her mother, a midwife and herbalist, prepared all sorts of herbal concoctions to remedy all sorts of ailments.
The family had to rely on these herbal remedies, because the father did not believe in doctors. Nor did he believe in schools—the mother schooled the children at home as much as the father would allow, and the author recalls acquiring old textbooks to read on various subjects in order to educate herself. She didn’t even have a birth certificate until she was nine years old.
But one day, against her father’s wishes, one of her brothers, Tyler, decided to leave home and go to college. Tyler’s love of learning had already left an impression on her, and that impression would, years later, conspire with unfolding events to lead her to consider taking the same path herself.
Written by Tara Westover, and first published in 2018, Educated is a journey of self-discovery, a story about breaking old bonds, uncovering new horizons, and learning the true value of an education.
For more information, or to sign up for the book discussion, please call our Reference Desk at (956) 580-8754, or send an email to reference@missiontexas.us (please include your name, telephone number, and how you heard about the book discussion). We will send a link for the meeting to all who sign up.
Speer Memorial Library is located at 12th and Kika De La Garza in Mission. Our library is currently closed to the public, due to COVID-19 prevention measures, but we are doing curbside service (except for Holidays) Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. The Library's homepage can be accessed for information via the Internet by entering www.mission.lib.tx.us. Stay up to date with the latest events going on at our neighborhood library by joining our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/speermemoriallibrary.
