The Friends of the Claremont Library has announced its forthcoming program for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, the amazing story of a virtually unknown woman whose cells have become one of the most important tools in modern-day medicine. The book is this year’s On The Same Page selection for the city-wide community read.

Events currently scheduled are:

• Sunday, September 30: The Role of HeLa Cells in Groundbreaking Medical Research. Lecture presentation by David Sadava, PhD, Emeritus Pritzker Family Foundation Professor of Biology, joint science program, Claremont Colleges.  Professor Sadava will speak about the historically significant role HeLa cells have played in medical research over the last 60 years.

The program will be held at the Hughes Center, Padua Room, 1700 Danbury Rd., from 2 to 4 p.m.

• Sunday, October 14: Dilemmas of Immortality: The Ethics of HeLa Cell  Research and Reporting. Panel and community discussion on the ethics of medical research and journalism topics raised by the book. Moderator and panelists include: Nicole Weekes, PhD, associate dean, Pomona College; Julie Tannenbaum, PhD, professor, department of philosophy, Pomona College; Laura Kelly, journalist and instructor of journalism with emerging democracies in Eastern Europe; and David M. Adams, PhD, professor and chair department of philosophy, Cal Poly, Pomona, and Clinical Ethicist, Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center.

The program will be held at the Hughes Center, Padua Room, 1700 Danbury Rd., from 2 to 4 p.m.

• Wednesday, October 24: Claremont High School Debate. The CHS forensics teams will debate some of the book’s most important themes. The program will be held at Taylor Hall, 775 N. Indian Hill Blvd., at 7 p.m.

• Wednesday, November 14: Claremont High School Theatre. Students in the CHS Theatre Department will present selected scenes and monologues based on selections from the book. The program will be held at Claremont High School at 7 p.m. Room TBD.

• Wednesday, April 3: Rebecca Skloot Talk, Q&A, and book-signing. The author will appear as part of the Marian Minor Cook Athenaeum Speakers’ Series at 6:45 p.m., at the Athenaeum, 385 E. 8th St. Because of limited seating in the Athenaeum, overflow seating will be available in the McKenna Auditorium.

All events are open and free to the public. Updates will be posted at www.   claremontlibrary.org. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is available at the Claremont Library, 208 Harvard Ave. It is also available at Mrs. Nelson’s Toy and Bookshop in La Verne.