Opening Closed Doors, a book for children ages 9-11, is about the desegregation of the Purcellville Library in 1957 and how Josie Murray of Purcellville played a pivotal part in the early Civil Rights Movement of Loudoun County.

Award-winning writer Linda Harris Sittig was born in New York City, raised in northern New Jersey, and put down her adult roots in Virginia. During her teaching career with Fairfax County Schools, the Greater Washington Reading Council selected Sittig as the Outstanding Reading Teacher of the Year. The following year she was honored at the state level. A decade later, the International Reading Association awarded her The Outstanding International Elementary Reading Teacher of the Year medal. Based on the belief that family literacy leads to lifelong readers, Sittig wrote a 15-year weekly newspaper column, “Kinderbooks,” reviewing the best in children’s literature. The column ran in multiple Washington, DC area newspapers, including The Loudoun Times-Mirror. Combining her passion for history and strong women, Sittig created a blog, Stories of Strong Women, currently being followed by over 1,200 readers who hail from 64 different countries. Each month she highlights the stories of women who should have become famous.

Pre-registration is required for this event. Please call 703-737-7195, email balchlib@leesburgva.gov or register online https://tinyurl.com/TBLEvents