The Friday, March 7 book review will feature Tom Zimmerman, retired associate professor emeritus of psychology at Pennsylvania College of Technology.  

Mr. Zimmerman will discuss On Bookstores: A comparative review of three novels in which a bookstore is a "character."  These novels include The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin; The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan; and The Lost for Words Bookshop by Stephanie Butland. Each tale is unique and all have something unexpected to offer the reader. The memories of books and the people who buy and sell them are housed in the shops where they're stored and displayed.  Whether the shop once served as a house of worship in a major city, or a crab shack in a beach town, if the walls could talk, the stories would likely charm, alarm, amuse, and inspire.  

Zimmerman is a native of Williamsport and taught at Penn College for many years. He has an ABS degree in Liberal Arts from The Williamsport Area Community College (predecessor to Pennsylvania College of Technology), B.A. in Psychology from Lycoming College and an M.A. in Psychology from Bucknell University. A licensed psychologist, he has earned multiple certificates and awards and enjoyed membership in several professional associations. Relevant to his choice of author for the March book review is his longstanding support of independent bookstores, most notably the Otto Bookstore, beginning in the 1950s.  Mr. Zimmerman’s last book review for the Friends of the Library was in April 2018 when he reviewed The Little Red Chairs by Irish author Edna O'Brien.

The review begins at 12:15PM in the Lowry Room of the Welch Family Wing of the James V. Brown Library with a Q&A from 12:45-1:00PM. Complimentary snacks and bottled water will be available. Attendees are also welcome to bring their own lunch. Reservations are required due to space considerations.  Please call the library at 570-326-0536 or use the library’s online reservation calendar (calendar.jvbrown.edu) before 3:00PM on Wednesday, March 5.  Parking is available in the public lot off Market Street, adjacent to the Welch Wing.