Karol and James Brown explore African American perspectives on education and civil rights in America with two Grays Harbor performances of "The Kids in School With Me," including interpretive readings, poetry, songs and images. The performances will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, October 2 at the Aberdeen Timberland Library, and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 11 at the McCleary Timberland Library.

These free presentations are designed for a teen to adult audience. They are part of Timberland Regional Library’s Timberland Reads Together: "The Secret Life of Bees," a program series designed to promote reading and to build community by exploring a book beyond its literary aspects and talking about its connections to real life. Other programs in the series continue throughout October. "The Secret Life of Bees," by Sue Monk Kidd, is set in the South during the civil rights upheavals of the 1960s.

The Browns developed "The Kids in School With Me" around both the legacy of African American contributions to society and the groundbreaking 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case, Brown vs. the Board of Education. The program covers the early 20th century, to the Harlem Renaissance, to contemporary times, and African Americans’ transition from less-than-equal status to legal equality.

An award-winning public speaker, Karol Brown is an educator, storyteller and community leader. James Brown is a tenor soloist in the Brotherhood Male Choir and the Gospel Choir at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Tacoma. "The Kids in School With Me" is an Inquiring Mind presentation.

The Friends of the McCleary Timberland Library are cosponsoring the McCleary program. For more information, call the Aberdeen library at (360) 533-2360 or the McCleary library at (360) 495-3368.

Timberland Regional Library serves the information, reading and lifelong learning needs of the Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, and Thurston county public at 27 community libraries and 5 cooperative library centers. The library system is funded by local property taxes. Anyone needing special accommodations to participate in a library’s program may contact the library 4 days in advance.