SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 23, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- The Omega Boys Club, long known for its renowned academic preparation program that provides college scholarships to underprivileged students, and its cutting-edge radio call-in talk show Street Soldiers, is proud to announce the establishment of a library. The Omega Library Centre will house a nine hundred piece literary collection entitled, The Omega African Heritage Library Collection to be unveiled during a dedication ceremony at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, February 21, 2001 at The Omega Boys Club in San Francisco.
This Collection is a compilation of first edition works by African and African American literary legends, many of them autographed by the author. "It is a priceless archive and educational resource donated to Omega by an anonymous benefactor," said Dr. Joseph E. Marshall, Jr., Executive Director of Omega Boys Club. "The donors only proviso was that the collection remains with The Club and be accessible to inner-city youth."
The Omega African Heritage Library Collection contains extraordinary books, galleys, proofs, and manuscripts, some of the works are signed by the author including, Alex Haley, Gwendolyn Brooks, James Baldwin and Alice Walker, to name just a few. It includes:
* Signed first edition books * Publishing house comment and galleys. * Interview transcriptions * Authors journal entries * Screen and stage plays * Letters
One book contains a series of fan letters and journal entries made by Alice Walker during production of the film version of The Color Purple. Another, a first edition book, still in its dust jacket and published as "A Rap on Race," Philadelphia and New York: Lippincott, 1971, reveals the transcription of a seven-and-a-half-hour dialogue between James Baldwin and anthropologist and author Margaret Mead on the subject of race.
To celebrate the unveiling of the collection, jazz great Joe Sample will visit San Francisco and conduct a benefit performance on Thursday, February 22, 2001 at 6:00 pm at the Great American Music Hall. Proceeds from the Joe Sample concert will support The Clubs scholarship fund and also help to build the in-house library to properly store and preserve the collection. Corporate and individual sponsorships are available and include a personal invitation to meet Joe Sample and attend the library dedication ceremony. Tickets for the concert performance begin at $100.00.
For more information about The Omega African Heritage Library Collection and the Joe Sample Benefit Concert contact Patti Colston at (916) 444-2249.
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CONTACT: The Omega Boys Club
Patti Colston
(916) 444-2249