After 35 years as a librarian with the Cobb County Public Library system, James Camp left the workaday world three years ago to enjoy retirement. But the former head of circulation at the Switzer branch in Marietta can still be found sharing his love of books and history in his former haunts.
Almost two years ago, as COVID’s impact began to wane and in-person book club gatherings revived, Camp was frequently invited to share his knowledge with the Multi-Cultural Book Discussion Group.
“I started providing historical and geographic background and context for the books we were reading,” he said. “I even started doing short PowerPoint presentations. I wasn’t that proficient at it, but I’ve gotten faster and can put them together pretty quickly now.”
Based on his own research and extensive reading, Camp has made presentations on Japanese Americans who were relocated to internment camps in the U.S. during World War II and the historic locations referenced in a book set in antebellum Charleston, to name a few. He’s heard from the group’s 25 members that his contributions add an additional dimension to the discussion.
Beyond book clubs, Camp has also given talks on subjects that fascinate him. One of his favorites is Native American history and culture, a tie to his own family background.
“I have a Cherokee connection on my father’s side, so I’ve done a lot of reading on them,” he said. “And we literally live near the capital of the Cherokee nation at New Echota. It’s always been important to me to tell the story of the people who were removed by force.”
Other presentations have focused on early Virginia history and Spain in the New World. He recently led a program about the Sioux nation and is working on a similar project around the Aztecs.
“I started studying them a year ago, and they have one of the most dramatic stories,” he said. “I like to do cultural comparisons, and with today’s computer graphics and artificial intelligence, there are some wonderful ways to reconstruct the original Aztec capital.”
Camp has heard from librarians at other Cobb branches that they’re interested in having him bring his historical presentations to their sites.
“A lot of people are surprised that the library has these types of programs,” he said. “I’m glad it gives people the chance to learn about something on a different level.”
Information about the Cobb library system is online at cobbcounty.org/library.
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