11/16/05
Community reading program puts everyone on the same page
Connecting residents to one another in a community through reading the same books is one of the objectives of the Prior Lake and Savage community in Scott County. Having communities reading and discussing the same books at the same time is spreading throughout the Twin Cities area and the country.
Residents in Edina, Eden Prairie and Hopkins are reading the same books at a particular time.
In the communities of Prior Lake and Savage the program is called ìOn the Same Pageî which is in its second year and has been well be received by adults and students alike.
A committee has selected four books for the community to read and discuss in groups informally.
The four books selected are ìA Bad Case of Stripesî by David Shannon, a picture book; ìWhale Talkî by Chris Crutcher, a teen book; ìWhen the Circus Come to Townî by Lawrence Yep, a chapter book and ìKite Runnerî by Khaled Hosseini, an adult book.
The books focus on human worth and dignity, which is a prescribed community value. Last year, the value was honesty.
This project works because it is a joint venture between the Scott County Library system, the cities of Prior Lake and Savage, the Prior Lake-Savage School District and the Burnsville Barnes and Noble Book Sellers.
For the second year in a row, Barnes and Noble has donated $1,500 worth of the selected books to the area libraries and the schools in the community.
Copies of the books are available at the libraries, while children can check them out at their school media centers.
Eden Prairie has a different model along the same idea. Their residents read one book, announced in the spring and discussed in a series of events during October. This year the book was ìOrdinary Peopleî by Judith Guest. An authorís night when Guest appeared was a big success.
The key to starting an effort to pick a book for the community to read and discuss is to involve the city administration, the school district, the library and local book sellers. Usually, a book selection committee picks the book and makes it available in the book shops, the library and the school libraries.
The committee also plans a series of events and small discussion groups for that time period.
For more information, go to a Web site: www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/1-book. Call the Prior Lake Library at 952-707-1760.
During this time when leaders are looking for ways to build community spirit and pride, having everyone on the same page is one way to develop togetherness, and a good topic for discussion around the water cooler. -- Don Heinzman
HometownSource.com
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