By SABRINA BERNDT

Washington Daily News

Local writers will have an opportunity to socialize and learn from a published author at an event hosted to spur interest in the Bath Library.

The Friends of Bath Community Library is hosting its annual meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday with special guest Heather Cobham Brewer. Open to the public, the meeting will offer a presentation from Brewer, as well as a book signing and Q&A session.

“I serve on the library’s board,” said Robin Boyd, a member of the Friends of Bath Community Library. “They asked if anybody knew of an author that we would like to invite, and Heather went to Wake Forest University, where my sister went, and they were good friends.”

Brewer is an author of two books inspired by Hurricane Katrina, “Hungry Mother Creek” and “The Mother Tree,” and currently resides in Oriental. During the presentation at 102 S. Harding St., Brewer will be explaining her writing process, making the annual meeting a great opportunity for local writers to socialize with an established author.

“She’s actually a counselor in New Bern,” Boyd said. “She practices in New Bern four days a week and then she writes on Fridays and the weekends. She’s just a really neat person.”

The Friends of Bath Community Library is a nonprofit that raises funds for the local library. The group hosts fundraisers, such as spaghetti dinners and movie nights, to supplement any holes in the library’s budget.

“We try to do community outreach events,” Boyd said. “If there’s ever a need, they call on us and we try to help them out.”

The annual meeting includes a short business meeting for the Friends, but the nonprofit also encourages public interest in the library, which occupies the former Bath High School cafeteria.

“I love seeing how they’ve taken the old building and restored it and made it functional,” Boyd said. “The library was the first occupant in the building, and we have a lot of strong community support.”

To learn more about the visiting author and her novels, visit www.heathercobham.com.