Barger to present book discussion

The Faulkner County Library is proud to present an author discussion, book signing and reading with published author Carl Barger. Barger is the author of "Mamie: An Ozark Mountain Girl of Courage," "Swords and Plowshares" and "Cleburne County and Its People." The author will discuss his three books on Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.

Barger was born in 1943, in Higden. Barger was one of 12 children. While growing up in Cleburne County his family made a living by farming and being a migrant family. Barger holds three educational degrees: a bachelor's degree from Arkansas Tech University, a master's degree from the University of Central Arkansas and a school administrators degree from the University of Arkansas. Barger spent 37 years in public school work as a coach, teacher and superintendent. Thirty-three of those years were spent as a superintendent in five public schools.

Barger is also involved in state and community activities including a seven-year appointment on the Arkansas History Commission; a member on the Conway School Board of Education; a Rotarian in the Conway Noon Rotary Club; the local Salvation Army board; a member of the Arkansas Sports Club in Conway; and a member of First Baptist Church in Conway. His hobbies are writing and doing genealogy research.

Barger started writing books after he retired in 2003. His first book, "Swords and Plowshares," is a Civil War love story that covers from the 1820s to 1912. His second book, "Mamie: An Ozark Mountain Girl of Courage," is a story of his mother, Mamie, and her struggles and courage of being an Ozark mountain girl. This book takes place in Cleburne and Van Buren counties from 1900-1988. His third book is a two-volume book that is a sequential and chronological account of the history of Cleburne County from the 1840s to 2007. It consists of more than 2,000 short stories of people who made a difference in Cleburne County's growth and development.

The author discussion is free and open to the public, and is part of the library's Book Buzz Program. Books will be for sale at the event for those interested. For more information, contact Sarah at the Faulkner County Library, 327-7482 or sarah@fcl.org.