Kern County is home to many talented writers and the Kern County Library is happy to provide a digital home for their work through our OverDrive platform.
Due to the explosion of self-publishing, the Kern County Library does not physically catalog local author titles. Any print copies of local author works will be kept at the local branch library and made available as “honor” checkouts.
Print titles of Local History nonfiction are welcome and should be submitted to the Library through your local library branch. If they are appropriate for the Local History collection, they will be catalogued and housed in the Local History Room at the Beale Memorial Library.
Criteria for Inclusion in KCL’s Local Author Collection
- The author or creator must currently reside in and have lived in Kern County for at least 5 years.
- Illustrators are eligible. In the case of an illustrated book, either the author or the illustrator must currently reside in and have lived in Kern County for at least 5 years.
Local Author Appearances and Events
Local authors may work directly with individual library branches to plan an appearance at a specific location. Access our list of Hours and Locations for contact information by individual branch.
Local Author Resources
We encourage writers to hone their craft with the resources below.