On March 13, FSCJ hosted the annual Author Series Learning Community event featuring Josh Hanagarne, author of “The World’s Strongest Librarian: A Book Lover’s Adventures.”

At first glance, Josh Hanagarne seems an improbable librarian. He stands 6’7″, competes in strongman contests and was diagnosed in high school with Tourette Syndrome. Yet, everything in Hanagarne’s life – from his Mormon upbringing to finally finding love to learning to control his tics through lifting – circles back to a close connection to books. Hanagarne's novel illuminates the mysteries of Tourette Syndrome as well as the very different worlds of strongman training and modern libraries.

Hanagarne's presentations at Kent and South Campuses explored his experiences growing up with Tourette Syndrome and how strongman training helped him to gain some control of his tics. He also spoke about perseverance and how for him it evolves every day. He left audiences with this inspiring outlook: Things can always improve and be better than they are right now.

As part of this year's Author Series, students were invited to participate in essay and visual art contests. Essay contest winners are students Leity Dorta (first place), Robin Hill (second place) and Towela Banda (third place). Visual Art contest winners are the collaborative project created by the Advanced Advertising Design, Sculpture, Design and Printmaking classes (first place), and students Lance Hunt (second place) and Angela Orth (third place). Congratulations to all!

View pictures from the author's visit.

Stay tuned for the announcement of next year's featured novel and learn more about the Author Series at fscj.edu/authorseries.