On Board at the Smithsonian: Breezer Carmen Agra Deedy!

We just got big news about our own Southern Breezer, Carmen Agra Deedy!

Deedy moved with her family from Havana to Decatur, Georgia during the Cuban Revolution, and now she's a celebrated author of children's books, published in both English and Spanish. And what a storyteller! She's enthralled audiences for years, including Southern Breezers when she gave a keynote at one of our Springmingle conferences. But really, there's SO much more to this Breezer, so on to the news!

The Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents voted Oct. 21 to appoint Carmen Agra Deedy and Brandon Neal to the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board in January 2020. They will join 17 community and business leaders dedicated to building the Libraries’ collections, increasing digital initiatives, advancing education, creating high-quality exhibitions and programs and securing a financial legacy. “I am pleased to welcome Carmen Agra Deedy and Brandon Neal to our Board,” said Scott Miller, Deputy Under Secretary for Collections and Interdisciplinary Support and Interim Director, Smithsonian Libraries. “They bring with them decades of extraordinary leadership and expertise in key areas. Their outstanding work has enhanced communities around the country—Deedy through storytelling and literacy and Neal through advocacy and fundraising.”

“It is an honor to serve the Smithsonian Libraries, an organization with a venerable and storied past. As an immigrant, this appointment is especially poignant; during my formative years America’s libraries were both university and sanctuary,” said Carmen Agra Deedy. “I am elated to work with this exceptional Board, whose collective vision and quiet diligence is ensuring that the Libraries’ second century will be as celebrated as its first.”

The Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board consists of members from across the United States. The mission of the board is to help the Libraries to provide authoritative information and create innovative services and programs for Smithsonian researchers, scholars, scientists, curators, historians and other staff, as well as the public at large.

About the Smithsonian Libraries

The Smithsonian Libraries maintains a collection of more than 2 million volumes and serves as an educational resource for the Smithsonian Institution, the global research community and the public. The Libraries are located in Washington, D.C.; Edgewater, Md.; Chantilly, Va.; New York City; and the Republic of Panama. 

There are lots of ways to connect with the libraries but here's a good starting place: library.si.edu. 

About Carmen Agra Deedy 

Deedy is the author of eleven books for children, including The Library Dragon, The Cheshire Cheese Cat, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach and 14 Cows for America, a New York Times bestseller. Her personal stories first appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered. 

She is host of the four-time Emmy-winning children’s program, Love That Book! An award-winning author and storyteller, Deedy is also an accomplished lecturer, having been a guest speaker for both the TED and TEDx Conferences, the Library of Congress, Columbia University, the National Book Festival, and the Kennedy Center, among other distinguished venues. 

Deedy’s dedication to libraries and librarians has been life-long. She served on the Dekalb Public Libraries Board of Trustees, in her home state of Georgia, as an Author Library Advocate for the American Library Association. A life-long supporter of the Smithsonian, she opened the 2016 Art of the Book Lecture Series for the Libraries. Deedy’s newest picture book, Rita and Ralph’s Rotten Day (Scholastic Press), illustrated by Pete Oswald, will be released on March 3, 2020.

Oh, the places you'll go when you join SCBWI! Big congrats to Southern Breezer, Carmen Agra Deedy! (And P.S. If you've never explored the Smithsonian Libraries, take a look! It's a treasure trove for readers and researchers: free images, educator resources, and all kinds of online digital delights--all there, just for you! And thank you to Carmen Agra Deedy for helping with the mission of this amazing library system!)