STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

“Frankenstein” may have been written in 1818. But it will get a jolt of modern-day technology on Tuesday when the Hailey Public Library hosts a hybrid-in person and Zoom discussion of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s book.

The discussion facilitated by Tim Keirn and Laura Primrose will take place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10, at Hailey Town Center on River Street. Those taking part in zoom should visit https://haileypubliclibrary.org/.

The novel, which examines a creator abandoning his creation and the development of an artificial intelligence beyond that of a natural human, is this year’s Winter Read. The community is invited to read the book and explore it through a month-long series of lectures, films and conversations.

"Our discussion of Frankenstein will provide the opportunity to talk about Mary Shelley’s text in conversation with the early nineteenth century as well as the present,” said Keirn, professor emeritus in the Department of History and the College of Education at California State University.

Winter Read is spearheaded by The Community Library in partnership with the Hailey Public Library, Bellevue Public Library and Stanley Community Library.

Tim Keirn, who serves as treasurer on the Hailey Public Library’s Board of Trustees, has co-authored multiple books and published widely on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century British and colonial South Asian history, as well as history education. Laura Primrose is the Reference librarian for HPL and facilitates the library’s monthly book club.