The Toledo Lucas County Public Library and Books4Buddies recently recognized one of the region’s most renowned playwrights, Dr. John S. Scott, during a ceremony titled LEGACY that was held at the Kent Branch. During the ceremony, Dr. Scott and his collective works were inducted into the Library’s Toledoana Collection, which features works by prominent Toledo and Northwest Ohio authors.

Local History and Genealogy Department Manager Jill Clever presided over the induction, with remarks and recognitions from local officials, friends and Laneta Goings, president and co-founder of Books4Buddies (an organization Dr. Scott has worked with in the past that collects new and gently used books for disadvantaged children and young adults).

The following works by Dr. Scott have been added to the Toledoana Collection and will be available for customers to access in-house:

• Myths of a Black Sisyphus
• P.S. 13 – A Chapbook: Thirteen Printed Speeches on Love & Loss & Liberation
• Ride a Black Horse II: Anthology
• Soliloquy: Memoir Stream/Stories
• Black Stage: 4 Plays
• Afternoons at the A.O. Café
• My Little Black Book: A Memoir
• Kaleidoscope: Black Theatre Visions
• Shorty: Six One-Act Plays
• Lizard Therapy

About Dr. John S. Scott:

A prolific playwright, poet, fiction writer and director, Dr. Scott is best known for works including Off-Broadway plays “Ride a Black Horse” and “The Good Ship Credit” and PBS productions of “Currents: From the Rivers of Our Fathers” and “Pieces of a Man.”

Dr. Scott grew up in Toledo, Ohio and graduated from Scott High School. He holds a bachelor’s degree from South Carolina State College and master’s and doctorate degrees from Bowling Green State University (BGSU).

Dr. Scott is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at BGSU, where he worked in the Department of Ethnic Studies. He has held appointments as Professor, Chair of Theatre/Ethnic Cultural Arts and Director of programs and plays at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). He also served as Professor and Chair of the Department of Speech Communication & Theatre at Jackson State University; Professor and Chair of the Humanities Division and Director of Performing Arts at Florida Memorial College; Consulting Artistic Director and Lecturer at Dillard University; and Professor and Chair for the Department of Fine Arts at Benedict College.

Dr. Scott is a past recipient of the Ohio Governor’s Award for the Arts, an AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee, Inc.) Award nominee for Best Musical (“Karma”) and was an invited writer for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference.

About the Toledoana Collection:

The Library’s Toledoana Collection features books by Toledo and Northwest Ohio authors on a variety of subjects. The collection is housed in the Local History and Genealogy Department and is available to access in person by request. Notable works include a collection of books by Toledo Mayor (from 1906-1914), The Honorable Brand Whitlock, the Nancy Drew Cookbook, and the satirical and anti-slavery writings of The Toledo Blade editor (from 1865 until his death in 1888) David Ross Locke, who wrote under the pen name Petroleum V. Nasby. The Library’s Locke Branch is named for the late David Ross Locke.