The Dayton Literary Peace Prize Foundation recently celebrated its 18th annual awards presentation. The opening words of the winning non-fiction book, His Name is George Floyd, by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, said it all about seeking peace through literature: “I Love You.” That was the message of George Floyd and the message of many of the authors as they focused on love as the key to peace.

The evening was filled with literary stars, such as Sandra Cisneros (The House on Mango Street) and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Geraldine Brooks (Horse). They were presented by equally bright stars, Kati Marton (widow of Richard C. Holbrooke, the diplomat who had negotiated The Dayton Peace Accords in 1995), Clarence Page, the Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist from the Chicago Tribune, and Jeff Hobbs, the author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace. These literary stars were introduced by Gilbert King, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Devil in the Grove, a book that tells the saga of Thurgood Marshall and his legal efforts to save the Groveland Boys from an unjust and false murder conviction..

These literary stars sparkled under the stars embedded in the ceiling of the Schuster Center, configured as they were in the sky on the date of the First Flight by the Wright Brothers in 1903. But this time, the literary stars and the Wright Brothers stars gave way to the superstars of the evening, the librarians in our midst and around the world.

Time and time again the winning authors praised the librarians in their lives, starting with Toluse Olorunnipa, who admitted that, while he wasn’t sure whether his parents wanted quiet time for themselves or whether they wanted their children to be educated, he was certain that his time in the library as a youth ignited his desire to read and treasure books.

Geraldine Brooks applauded her times in the libraries in Sydney, Australia, as well as the libraries in the United States because they had all influenced and encouraged her to absorb the literature of the world and provided a major impetus in her career.

Sandra Cisneros virtually shouted her praise for librarians who for many years had fought the Patriot Act that had imposed on librarians the obligation to turn over reading data of library patrons, and shouted her praise for those librarians who are currently fighting the efforts to ban books from libraries. She was almost in tears as she extolled the value of free speech and free reading for the public.

Sandra Cisneros recounted her times in the Chicago Public Library, both in her youth and in her adulthood, repeating and repeating again how librarians had influenced her reading, her writing, and, indeed, her life. She concluded her praise of librarians by saying that the airlines should let the librarians board the planes first. That proclamation produced a rousing and thunderous round of applause from the audience.

The praise for librarians culminated with the attendance of Dr. Carla Hayden, The Librarian of Congress, who had eagerly accepted our invitation to come to Dayton to experience the Dayton Literary Prize and the Dayton community. As a matter of history, in 2016 President Barack Obama had appointed Dr. Hayden to be the 14th Librarian of Congress in the history of our country. Significantly, she is the first African-American to head the Library of Congress, and the first woman to head that institution.

During the Saturday afternoon conversation with the authors, Dr. Hayden who, like Sandra Cisneros, grew up in Chicago, interviewed Cisneros about their respective times in the Chicago Public Library and how those times nurtured their love for life and literature.

In many ways, Dr. Hayden was treated as a rock star at the Sunday night awards celebration, as evidenced by the many librarians who were asked by Gilbert King to stand to illustrate their presence and their importance to the Dayton Literary Prize community. This was reinforced at the conclusion of the celebration as I watched a long line of young librarians standing in line for Dr. Hayden to sign their programs. I watched with admiration at how gracious and engaging Dr. Hayden was with each of these librarians as these conversations embedded Dr. Hayden into the Dayton community as she became a special part of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize family.

So, as the evening ended with the inspiring Central State University Chorus singing for peace, I was filled with admiration for all of the winning authors and, yet, I recognized that for this evening the real superstars were the librarians in our midst.

Dayton attorney Merle Wilberding is a regular Ideas & Voices contributor.