Community reading programs bring people together through a common book. As part of the adult summer reading program, seven area libraries have collaborated on a local program called One Book, Many Neighbors. We have chosen the book One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories, which examines the many points of view of people from different cultures.
Each library has planned a program around different stories from the anthology. Participants are able to check out the book and pick up a passport to guide them to each program, where they will collect passport stamps to be eligible for a Grand Prize drawing. Participants and their families will be invited to a Summer Finale Party at Cider Hill Family Orchard, with food, prizes, apple picking and other activities. Contact your home library to join our globetrotting book club across Atchison, Leavenworth and Wyandotte Counties.
1. Atchison Public Library: Thursday, June 6 at 6 p.m. Join a discussion of two stories, one set in an Inuit village in Canada and the other in India, while sipping mango lassies and snacking on Indian finger food.
2. Leavenworth Public Library: Sunday, June 9 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Visit Puerto Rico and view the U.S.A. through the eyes of a West African immigrant. Explore cultural understanding and change with a discussion led by diversity consultant Gene Chávez, Chávez & Associates, Kansas City. Special guests from Puerto Rico, Liberia and Ivory Coast will share their culture, food and music.
3. Lansing Community Library: Tuesday, June 18 at 5:30 p.m. Visit the U.S.A., India, and Australia with a discussion of two stories while sipping ginger lemonade and snacking on finger food.
4. Bonner Springs City Library: Tuesday, June 25 at 5:30 p.m. Visit South Africa and Botswana with two stories which will be read aloud, then followed by a discussion at 6 p.m. and a traditional South African tea. A reader from South Africa will join the discussion via Skype.
5. Basehor Community Library: Tuesday, July 9 at 7 p.m. Visit India and the U.S.A. with a discussion while snacking on traditional Indian desserts, followed by a presentation about the modern immigration experience. Janell N. Avila of the Solorio & Avila Immigration Law Frim about legal immigration today, and Deepti Srinivasan, a local immigrant living in the Kansas City area, will share her immigration experience.
6. Linwood Community Library: Thursday July 18 at 6:30 p.m. Enjoy putting together a delicious banana crumb cake that is traditional to Southern Brazil while we discuss the story. Take it home to bake for a tasty treat! Space is limited for this program, registration required. Call the Linwood Community Library at 913-301-3686 to register.
7. Tonganoxie Community Library: Tuesday, July 23 from 6 to 7 p.m. Visit Bangladesh with a story that will be read aloud, followed by a Skype session with the author. Patrons will also sample traditional food from Bangladesh.
We hope many of you will join our trip around the world (and the tri-county area) in June and July.