Resources

Community reading programs have spread across North America since the late 1990s. In addition to those sponsored by public libraries, they can be found on college campuses, through the media, and in a variety of organizations.

Books Create Community

• One Great Idea—Beth Dempsey describes the One Book, One Community phenomenon in Library Journal
• Beyond the Book—A three-year interdisciplinary research project to learn more about mass reading events
• The Power of Words—Nancy Pearl’s address at the first “Human Connection: Words, Power, and Change in the BiblioTech Age” lecture series event sponsored by the University of Michigan School of Infomation

Centers for the Book

• The Library of Congress—Book festivals, events, and “One Book” projects
• Michigan—Author visits, contests, awards, grants, book lists

Michigan Reads

• The Great Michigan Read—Features Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by author Bich Minh Nguyen, a Grand Rapids native.
• East Lansing and Michigan State University—Will read The Solist by Steve Lopez
• Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads—Launched in 2003 by the University of Michigan Life Sciences, Values and Society Program