What do you do when you retire as director of the Salina Public Library? Put together a book of your poetry, of course!

A reading and celebration of Joe McKenzie’s soon to be released book, At the Mercy of Ourselves, is scheduled for 6:30-8:30 p.m. February 22 at the SPARK Artist Resource Exchange, 146 S. Santa Fe.

Also reading will be Robert Dean of Augusta.

Refreshments, book sales, and book signings are to be part of the evening, according to information from SPARK

McKenzie retired as director of the Salina Public Library in December 2017. He grew up in Philadelphia, went to colleges in Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Colorado. McKenzie enjoyed a long career in libraries while writing as many poems as would come. He has been active in the community and continues to volunteer. McKenzie was commissioned to write and read a series of poems on Andy Warhol’s electric chair paintings at the Salina Art Center. He is a New Voice Award winner as part of the Annual Spring Poetry Reading Series.