Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series – Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation

Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation Presents:

2027 Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series - Finding Freedom in Stories

Our 2027 lecture series will explore the liberating power of literature, community, and human connection in helping incarcerated and disenfranchised individuals reclaim their autonomy, self-agency, and humanity.

This lecture series is 100% funded by community donations.

Donate to the Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series

REIKO HILLYER

Education as Liberation: The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program

Wednesday, March 10, 2027 | Coupeville Library
4:00 pm - Free Public Lecture

This public lecture will explore the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, a practice that takes college undergraduates inside a prison to learn alongside incarcerated students in an integrated class.

Reiko will share her experience teaching in the program through Lewis & Clark College and discuss its transformative possibilities for higher education, community-building, knowledge-creation, and liberation.

Reiko Hillyer is a Professor of History at Lewis & Clark University. An award-winning educator, Hillyer has published scholarly work on the civil rights movement and public memory, community policing in New York City, and prison litigation in Virginia. Her most recent book A Wall is Just a Wall: The Permeability of the Prison in the 20th Century United States (Duke, 2024), has been featured on CNN and NPR. A short documentary about her Inside-Out class, “Classroom 4,” directed by Eden Wurmfeld, is now streaming on PBS and made the shortlist for the Academy Award for Best Short Documentary.

REGINALD DWAYNE BETTS

The Poet, The Prison, and Everything After

Friday, March 19, 2027 | Whidbey Island Center for the Arts (WICA)

7:00 pm - Free Public Lecture

Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet, lawyer, and Founder and CEO of Freedom Reads. At sixteen, he was sentenced to nine years in adult prison for an armed carjacking, where he discovered poetry and the law. His work since then has been one long inquiry into how a child ends up in prison and what it takes to come home, pursued through poetry, memoir, theater, photography, and film.

In his lecture for the 2027 Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series, Reginald Dwayne Betts invites the audience to contemplate origin stories. Tracing his story as a poet, Betts will speak to the ways in which he was able to imagine a different future for himself despite being in prison. His narrative will explore the arc of a life that has included publishing multiple collections of poetry, attending Yale Law School, securing the freedom of six people through the parole process, and founding Freedom Reads, an organization dedicated to building freedom libraries in prison cellblocks. Betts' lecture will be a combination of poetry, photography, and stories that run from sorrowful to hilarious.

Betts is featured in the PBS documentary Crime and Punishment in America, released in November 2026. His life is also the focus of mixed-media documentary March Forth which spans live performance, animation, poetry, and memoir.

Your Support Keeps the Series Going!

Donate to the Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series

The Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series is 100% funded by community donations. The series is offered as a benefit to both adults and youth in our community, and would not be possible without the continued generosity of individuals, businesses, and community organizations. To help support the lecture series with a tax-deductible contribution, please click on the donate button above or mail a check in Trudy's honor to:

Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation
7312 35 Avenue NE
Marysville, WA 98271

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Download our TSLS 2027 Sponsorship Packet or contact Melanie Masson at mmasson@sno-isle.org or 360-651-7051 for more information.

Interested in joining the Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series Planning Committee? Please fill out our online application form.

Click to Apply Online

About the Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series

Founded in 2016, the Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series honors beloved Whidbey Island teacher and community leader Trudy J. Sundberg and her lifelong commitment to discover, explore, and exchange information, ideas, and opinions in an environment of respect and consideration.

Each year, the series features a free public lecture by an eminent speaker and a special engagement activity at a Whidbey Island school designed to inspire and empower students. A planning committee of community volunteers, Library and Foundation staff selects the featured speakers. The lectures explore Trudy’s many areas of interest, including education, literature, history, the arts, civic engagement, and politics.

Presented in collaboration with the Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation, the Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series exemplifies public libraries’ commitment to lifelong learning and intellectual freedom.

The series is made possible thanks to generous contributions by individuals, businesses, community organizations, and support from the Trudy J. Sundberg Memorial Fund, established in Trudy's honor. The Fund is administered according to the policies and procedures of the Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation, adhering to guidelines established with the Greater Everett Community Foundation. Funds for the program may also be used to enhance pertinent library resources and access to information for residents of the Sno-Isle Libraries District.

Trudy Sundberg Lecture Series Planning Committee:

Gary Berner, Craig Cross, Michele Kahrs, Christina Kourteva, Kathleen Landel, Ace Martin, Melanie Masson, Katrina Morse, Gale Prichard, Scott Stapleton, C. Bryan Tidwell

Watch Past Event Videos

Lyla June event photos by David Welton

Wade Davis event photos by David Welton

"We just moved to Whidbey Island and could not believe Wade Davis was coming to Langley! We have followed him for 12 years. He is a rock star! You can bet we will support the Trudy Sundberg Lectures and will be at the lecture next year." - Wade Davis Lecture Attendees