Nancy Pearl — coming to Nicola’s Books on Wednesday, October 4 at 7 pm to talk about her new novel, George & Lizzie— may be the only person in America who could be referred to as a “celebrity librarian.”

For she’s regularly featured on NPR, where she recommends and discusses books; and she was the model for a librarian action figure that boasts “amazing shushing action!”

But locals who’ve heard Pearl on the radio may not realize that she has deep local roots. Though she now calls Seattle home, Pearl grew up in Detroit and studied library science at the University of Michigan.

“I remember being addicted to Judy Collins and Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell — that was the soundtrack for my time in Ann Arbor,” Pearl said during a recent phone interview. “The other thing about being in Ann Arbor at that time, of course, was the bookstores. That was when Borders was still this little bookstore. And I lived in the co-op system while I was at Michigan. I have a lot of fondness for those times.”

Regarding Pearl’s chosen profession, the die was cast early on. READ THE REST HERE