Author Jay Ryan celebrates National Library Week at El Segundo Public Library

Author Jay Ryan visited the El Segundo Public Library on Saturday during National Library Week to discuss his books, take audience questions and sign copies, a short on-site interview showed.

The event brought local readers together to hear the Minnesota-born author and to celebrate library programming that organizers said connects residents with writers. "I was a library kid, and that's where I saw my first literary event," Jay Ryan, an author, said. "It's where I got my first books, and it's where I started applying my passion for reading and eventually writing."

The program included a moderated conversation, a question-and-answer session and a book-signing, according to the interviewer at the scene. Several attendees said they traveled short distances to attend. "Saturday morning, El Segundo, 15 minutes away. It was a no-brainer," said a resident who attended the event. Another resident praised the library and its programs, saying, "I love the book covers ... El Segundo is a great town, and I like what the library does. It's just a sweet little library."

Ryan said he grew up in Hastings, Minnesota, and now lives in Burbank in Los Angeles County, where he has lived for about 25 years. He described traveling to library events across the country — including stops in smaller cities such as Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Joplin, Missouri — to meet readers who otherwise might not travel to larger metros for author appearances. "If I'm gonna meet readers, I've gotta go to them, and the library is the place to do it," he said.

Organizers framed the appearance as part of National Library Week programming aimed at promoting reading and local cultural events. The short interview concluded with a reminder to readers to take advantage of library events and services.

For local readers, the visit provided direct contact with an author whose books draw on Minnesota themes and who said he values library-based events as formative to his own career.