Teens and adults can learn about the work of poet Gwendolyn Brooks during an event at the DeKalb Public Library.

The free program will begin at 6 p.m. Feb. 19 in the library’s lower-level Zimmerman Meeting Room, 309 Oak St.

Attendees can learn about Brooks poetry, poetry field contributions, and life achievement milestones. She was the first African-American woman inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1976 and the first African-American winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950. Brooks was named a lifelong Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968 and the U.S. Poet Laureate from 1985 to 1986. She was awarded the Robert Frost Medal in 1989 and National Medal of Arts in 1995. Brooks died Dec. 3 of 2000. The program is part of the library’s America 250 initiative. No registration is required.

For information, call 815-756-9568, ext. 2150, or email thomask@dkpl.org.