New Beginnings for Redford Branch Library



Welcome to the Friends of the Redford Branch Library blog page.

Our group began with its first meeting on September 13, 2008. The group is comprised of community leaders, entrepreneurs, librarians and volunteers who desire to give back to the community.

Meet the Author

Meet Katrina Carmichael
Katrina Carmichael is the author of the book series, "Maya's Journey." As a child, Katrina witnessed domestic violence. She later lost her sister, Michelle Carmichael- Walker, to a domestic violence act on May 20, 2003. She was murdered by her estranged husband. After her untimely death, Katrina was inspired to write “Daddy, Why Do You Hurt Mommy?” Her books speak from experience and they also speak from the voices of her nieces and nephew whom were left behind motherless.
Katrina is the Founder and Executive Director of SADA's House (Sisters Against Domestic Abuse), a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. She is also the Founder of Sister2Sister Connection LLC, an after school program for female students. She is looking to become a "change agent" and finds peace in helping others.


Ms Carmichael will be at the Redford Branch Library on Monday, February 9, 2009 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.


You can visit Ms Carmichael's website http://www.katrinacarmichael.com/index.html



We Have a Book Club!

The “Worth Reading Book Club,” will hold its first discussion on Saturday, February 28, 2009, at 4:00 p.m. Teresa Kimble has graciously and enthusiastically agreed to be the facilitator for the book club. The book club is currently reading, “Douglass Women,” a novel by Jewell Parker Rhodes.


Words from the Author

History lies, obscures, and twists the truth, particularly about women and minorities. My role as a novelist is to tell better lies, which I hope, will convey an emotional truth to counterbalance inaccurate history.My novel, Douglass' Women, is an imaginative rendering of two women in Frederick Douglass life---his wife, Anna Douglass and his mistress, Ottilie Assing. While Douglass has been famous-- justifiably--for over a hundred and fifty years, Anna and Ottilie have languished, been obscured by a history, which diminished their significance. Personally, I believe all lives are significant. All people are extraordinary in their capacity to be gloriously and wonderfully human--to live, love, and learn with daily frailty and grace, strength and vulnerability. Human nature is complex, perfect in its imperfections, and it never fails to excite me as a novelist.
What would it have felt like to have been the black wife or white mistress of Frederick Douglass? While this question propelled my plot, I hoped to open readers' hearts and inspire renewed respect (and, sometimes, sorrow) for two women trying to shape their destinies in a sexually repressed, racist and sexist environment.