The St. Louis County Library system is gearing up for a Black History Month event that will feature a former inmate turned author.
Bobby Bostic was released from prison three months ago. His story inspired library staff when he took the initiative to reach out to them while he was still behind bars.
"In prison, I had hours upon hours to read,” 44-year-old Bobby Bostic said while sorting through books at the St. Louis County library.
He grew up in the city’s Walnut Park neighborhood. At 16, he was arrested and sentenced to prison for his role in an armed robbery.
While locked up for decades he relied on drugs to cope, until he discovered a passion for reading.
"This became my high. Right now I haven't gotten high in 22 years but if I pick up a book, I can get high. It's an intellectual high,” Bostic explained.
One day, he got inspired to contact the St. Louis County Library to help boost the book options for inmates so he wrote a letter.
"I've started a book club as well for men in prison to rehabilitate themselves,” Library Director Kristen Sorth said, reading the letter she kept from 2018. "I immediately walked into our deputy director's office and I handed him the letter and I said, 'We should figure this out'."
It inspired the library to begin delivering more books for inmates in the county and strategized how to become a bigger resource.
"We've been able to assist over 700 people with getting their warrants addressed and quashed so it really set us on this path,” Sorth said.
Now, the library wants Bostic to pay it forward. He will serve as a Black History Month panelist later this month, highlighting his work as an author. He hopes he can inspire those the age he was when he made bad decisions.
"It aint worth stealing cars and whatever you’re out doing because all you got to do is work and get a job, but I can't just tell them to get out the streets without giving them resources," he said. "Here's housing that's available. Here's education, scholarships or a trade, whatever you want to get.”
Bostic has written 15 books. Seven of them are available on Amazon. His presentation will happen at the county library’s Florissant Valley branch on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.