JCL Reference Librarian Helen Hokanson specializes in local writers, and she gets high praise from those in the literary community.
She was hired by the Library more than 20 years ago and was an information specialist and a branch manager before she became a Reference Librarian at Central. Library users at the time were clamoring for a writing group. She didn’t know what she was doing, but realized, “Our patrons really want this.” So she organized the first meeting about a decade ago.
Some short stories and essays shared in the meetings were fantastic. Some participants got published or went to graduate school to pursue writing careers. The group also fostered wonderful friendships. “It was just a fascinating experience,” Hokanson recalls.
The group disbanded a few years ago, but that freed Hokanson up to begin hosting author visits, which are enormously popular with patrons. They have continued virtually this year amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
Hokanson has also kept busy organizing this year’s 6th Annual Writers Conference, held virtually Nov. 12-15. Unlike many conferences nationally that focus on publishing, the Johnson County Library conference focuses on the writer’s craft. It features seasoned writers, editors, and teachers, both national and local.
“The thing people are most interested in,” Hokanson said, “is community building and meeting other writers because writing can be very isolating and lonely.”
Organizers knew no one wants to sit at a computer non-stop for three days, so the Library organized some events leading up to the conference, with well-attended lectures and workshops held since September to spread out the teachings.
Hokanson emphasizes that her work to nurture great writing involves a team effort. She praises the other JCL writers’ committee members: Cassandra Gillig, Beth Mercer, Diane Haner, Lisa Allen, Katt Cooper, Jack Vandeleuv and German Perilla. She also could not put on the writers conference without the core conference team: Gillig and Mercer, plus Joseph Keehn, Kate McNair and Chris Koppenhaver for Kids Day.
“I could not do this work,” she says, “without my brilliant colleagues.
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