TMC PULSE

12 T M C » P U L S E | A U G U S T 2 0 1 8 Spotlight RHEA BROWN LAWSON, PH.D., a champion of literacy, education and history, has directed the Houston Public Library since 2005. Lawson oversaw the development and opening of The African American Library at the Gregory School in Houston's historic Freedmen's Town. During and after Hurricane Harvey, she became a disaster recovery leader when her team delivered laptops to the George R. Brown Convention Center so thousands sheltered there could file insurance claims. At the moment, she is advocating for a new "21st century" Central Library with an auditorium to house programs now held elsewhere in the city. Q | During and after Hurricane Harvey, the library's branch locations became safe, wel- coming 'lily pads' amid flooding and chaos, providing Houstonians with connectivity and tranquility. What was your first instinct as library director when Harvey hit? A | The main thing I wanted to do was get those libraries open because of the sense of normalcy for parents and children and the community members that had seen so much devastation. People had lost their telephones; they'd lost their computers. People who never used libraries suddenly found that libraries had a new use in their lives. One of our strongest services to the community is that we are the largest provider of free internet connectivity and access to comput- ers. We never stopped giving service. Q | How do you view the role of public libraries? A | Libraries transform lives. A library is one of the last standing places where everyone is wel- come. It's a symbol of democracy. If you believe in equality and equity, you believe in libraries. No matter what your stage in life, the library is there for you. Expand your thinking about librar- ies. At one time, media was just books, but now it's so much more than that and there's so much more that's needed. Q | What do you want people to know about the Houston Public Library? A | People who aren't necessarily readers of checked-out books—who buy their own books and have their own home libraries—might not think libraries are necessary until they come to one of our fabulous programs like Nikki Giovanni this year, which had 1,600 people who waited to see a world-class poet. Or, when we had Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights icon. We are a big player in terms of giving people access to nationally-acclaimed authors and personal- ities. It's not always about the books, but about bringing history alive and giving people expo- sure. There are a number of people who pay for summer camp and are the first on the phone to get a free week with the library because they know the quality. For scholars, internationally, we have one of the deepest collections of Houston history with the Houston Metropolitan Research Center. We have a scholar-in-residence program at The African American Library at the Gregory School, in partnership with Rice University. We are deep and wide as the seventh-largest library system in the country. Q | Where were you born and how did your upbringing lead you to become a bibliophile? A | My heritage is Gullah, off the islands of South Carolina in the Lowcountry. Geechee. My parents were part of the Great Migration because there's very little work and there's very little industry, so they went north and landed in Maryland. That's where I grew up—in Baltimore. My mother used to walk me to the library, the Broadway Branch, and it was very close to Johns Hopkins University. When I was a kid, Ms. Thelma Bell would read stories and she was mesmerizing in the way that she would tell a tale. When I started working at the library, Ms. Bell became my supervisor and mentor. Nothing is an accident. Q | Why did you pursue a career as a librarian and library administrator? A | I kind of stumbled into it. I went to Morgan State University and, after graduating, I wanted to go to Atlanta University. I wanted to be an African American history professor but didn't have quite enough money to do that. So, I said I'd work and raise some money and go back to school. I ended up at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. I fell head over heels in love with the ability that libraries have to impact people's lives. That's kind of what teaching is. I was fulfilling something that I wanted to do, but on a broader scale. Before I knew it, five years had passed and a mentor said that if I was going to stick around, I might as well go get a master's degree in library science. And I did—at the University of Maryland. Q | What prepared you for the diverse customers you serve in Houston? A | One of the jobs I had at the Enoch Pratt Free Library was being in charge of the literacy pro- gram. I submitted a proposal to make one of the branches a literacy center. We had the Broadway Lifelong Learning Center right across from Hopkins. Doctors would come to Hopkins and bring their families, who knew no English, to the library. We had this whole community that wanted to learn how to read. That stuff is ingrained in me. (I kept that idea and brought it to the Carnegie Neighborhood Library and Center for Learning in Houston's Near Northside.) I left Baltimore for the Ph.D. program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I was teaching multicultural library services and public libraries in urban centers. Q | How has being a mother and, now, a grandmother influenced your work? A | My grandson, Nigel, who is 9½, is autis- tic. The Children's Museum of Houston has a morning when people with disabilities can come free of charge and the mothers and caregivers can bond while the children can just be free to be. We have the Pop Up Library TOO for kids with special needs and people invite us into spaces. You are influenced by experiences that you have. We found that my grandson's strength is tech- nology and math. Learning that he was autistic made me dive into that world as a grandparent to be supportive of my daughter, Ebony, who is fabulous. She is working on her second master's at Johns Hopkins in the development area to bring affordable homes to communities. (continued)

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