A Community Collaboration
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The Harris County Public Library (HCPL) system based out of Houston, Texas prides itself on providing its community with innovative services, programs and outreach opportunities. The aim is, and always has been, to connect in meaningful ways with the community it serves.
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This proved to be the case with the compilation of the Lone Star College (LSC)-Tomball Community Library’s very first Community Novel. The LSC- Tomball Community Library is one of 26 branches of the HCPL system, and a hub for the Tomball community.
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Lakisha Sparrow, Adult Programming Specialist at the LSC-Tomball Community Library, placed a call for writers in the local area to come together to create a work of fiction of novel length. Each writer would construct one chapter of the story before passing the book along to the next author. In this way, an entire novel would be created as a collaborative effort. Immediately, interest was sparked amongst the Tomball community, with the Community Novel project featuring in the Houston Chronicle and on 90.1 KPFT radio station’s Living Art show.
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In April of 2018, twenty potential authors came together to discuss the novel, brainstorm ideas, go over the writing calendar and timeline, and start with a basic premise for the plot. Once the starting point was set, participants moved the project forward, writing one chapter each before passing it off to the next writer. The novel was edited, updated and posted online weekly, and author biographies were included.
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In addition to this process was a book cover contest, which requested submissions for the cover design. Ms. Kristina Deshee Magelky, the contest winner, completed the artwork featured on the cover in October 2018.
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The final completion of the work required the support from the Friends of the Tomball Community Library who were greatly involved in the release of the novel as a self-published work available on Amazon, with proceeds going through the Friends group to fund further library programs and services.
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On behalf of the Lone Star College- Tomball Community Library, Harris County Public Library system and the Friends of the Tomball Community Library, we present to you our Tomball Community Writing Project: Air Within a Jade.
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Air Within a Jade, available for purchase on Amazon today!