Wanting to learn about the processes Black authors go through, Ishita Shah, freshman, signed up for the Jaer Armstead-Jones author visit during today’s Ac Lab.

“I think it would be really interesting to see someone who actually produces books and see it from an African-American perspective,” Shah said. “Even though we’re a very inclusive community, some people still face challenges. Hearing about his story would really help our community.”

Jamie Park, freshman, is another student who plans on attending the visit.

Park said she found the opportunity to be an uncommon yet interesting opportunity to meet an author like Armstead-Jones and to learn about the writing process from him.

“I think it’s interesting to understand how books get published because I feel like that’s not a part of books we know about,” Park said. “We only see the finished product.”

Armstead-Jones wrote “My Invisible Father”, a book that follows three different teen characters who live in the St. Louis area. These teens learn to overcome the obstacles of not having a father present in their lives.

Brittany Sharitz, librarian, said opportunities like these will allow students to learn more about what it takes to be a writer and to pull on experiences for novel-writing.

“They get to see a person of color who has had a lot of success in our area, so we just want to celebrate that here in the Library. We’re hoping students will be interested in his experiences and learn about the self-publishing process,” Sharitz said.

As many students aspire to be writers and authors, Sharitz said this visit will give many the ability to understand the life of a writer or further their passion for self-publishing and writing

“We hope that students will learn more than just about the book that is being talked about. They might be able to get questions answered,” Sharitz said.