Dinner in the Library Set For September 14

David L. Ulin, author of The Lost Art of Reading.

"How do things stick to us in a culture where information and ideas flare up so quickly that we have no time to assess one, before another takes place? How does reading maintain its hold on our imagination, or is that question even worth asking anymore?"

These are among the queries that book critic David L. Ulin advanced in his book, The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time, and he'll address as featured speaker Sept. 14 at the annual "Dinner in the Library."

The always-anticipated, elegant dinner will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Geisel Library, and, will include a silent auction, with items ranging from a private, behind-the-scenes tour of the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research to a gourmet Italian feast for eight prepared by a popular local chef and a UC San Diego professor. Offerings that proved highly popular at last year’s "Dinner in the Library," such as microbrew tours and tastings, will also be auctioned off.

This year's dinner will also include the presentation of the Geisel Citation for Library Philanthropy to Don and Maryann Lyle. The couple's support includes establishment of the Maryann and Don Lyle Library Collection Endowment for Engineering, the enrichment of biomedical information resources, and continued sponsorship of "Dinner in the Library." As a member and chair of the University Librarian's Advisory Board, Don Lyle helped establish the San Diego Technology Archive.

A former book editor of the Los Angeles Times, Ulin has edited two collections of Southern California literature: Another City: Writing from Los Angeles, and Writing Los Angeles: A Literary Anthology, which won a California Book Award. He teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of California, Riverside, and in the Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California.

Tickets for "Dinner in the Library" are $225 per person. All proceeds from the dinner and the silent auction are used to support library services and resources. For reservations, please call 858 534-1183 or go to: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/about/dinner.