Book Bridge Project

The Prince George's Community College Book Bridge Project was started in 1996 under the direction of Dr. Mary Brown. The major purpose of the Book Bridge Project is to bring Prince George’s County residents and the college community together in a shared learning experience about contemporary issues through literature by:

• Promoting lively dialogue, critical thinking, and writing about literature;
• Fostering greater understanding of others’ views and perspectives on local issues, and bridging the communication gaps that often exist in a diverse community;
• Inspiring and encouraging faculty to develop text-related interdisciplinary approaches and educational materials that improve course offerings across the curriculum;
• Improving the retention of students by engaging them in interdisciplinary approaches to education, by offering them co-curricular activities, and by providing them greater contact with faculty;
• Enhancing the articulation between the College and public schools, local businesses, libraries, churches, and other institutions;
• Achieving long-term benefits that include enhanced professional development as a function of reading, writing, thinking about, and discussing vital social issues; the development of student services programs that support instructional areas; improved communication between local governmental entities, businesses, churches, and schools; and increased community support of the College and its activities.

Current Book

I'm Telling the Truth, But I'm Lying is a deeply personal collection of essays exploring Nigerian-American author Bassey Ikpi’s experiences navigating Bipolar II and anxiety throughout the course of her life.

Bassey Ikpi was born in Nigeria in 1976. Four years later, she and her mother joined her father in Stillwater, Oklahoma —a move that would be anxiety ridden for any child, but especially for Bassey. Her early years in America would come to be defined by tension: an assimilation further complicated by bipolar II and anxiety that would go undiagnosed for decades.

By the time she was in her early twenties, Bassey was a spoken word artist and traveling with HBO's Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam, channeling her experiences into art. But something wasn’t right—beneath the façade of the confident performer, Bassey’s mental health was in a precipitous decline, culminating in a breakdown that resulted in hospitalization and a diagnosis of Bipolar II.

Determined to learn from her experiences—and share them with others—Bassey became a mental health advocate and has spent the fourteen years since her diagnosis examining the ways mental health is inextricably intertwined with every facet of ourselves and our lives. Viscerally raw and honest, the result is an exploration of the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of who we are—and the ways, as honest as we try to be, each of these stories can also be a lie.

Contact Us

Ms. Risikat I. Okedeyi, Director
Book Bridge Project
Lanham Hall 228J
301 Largo Rd.
Largo, MD 20774
Email: rokedeyi@pgcc.edu 
Phone: 301-546-0558