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Books & Big Ideas Community Read Program - Author Events Update

Posted on: March 8, 2023 - 3:32pm
Books & Big Ideas - A Kittery Community Read Program

Books & Big Ideas Update - May 18, 2023 

There is still time to join your friends and neighbors for one of our Books & Big Ideas author events this spring. These events provide readers with an opportunity to meet the authors (in-person and/or virtually) ask questions, and have in-depth discussions about the selected titles.
 
The selected titles have a shared theme of housing insecurity and the importance of "home". Through these stories, we aim to enrich the discussion about affordable housing and it's place in our community.

Upcoming Event:

"Paper Things" featuring Jennifer Jacobsen
May 25, 2023 | 6:00 PM
Rice Public Library | 8 Wenworth Street, Kittery, ME
 
Author Jennifer Richard Jacobson will be at the library to talk about her novel, Paper Things.  Don't miss this exciting in-person event! For more information or to register for this event, please visit the Rice Public Library's page by clicking here.

Previous Event - Housing for Humans is Now Available on Channel 22 and Online 24/7

Author Ileana Schinder joined us via Zoom to talk about her book, Housing for Humans: A Book to Imagine, Create and Design a New Housing Model in America.  If you weren't able to join us for this awesome event, we've got you covered!
 
The Housing for Humans event will premiere on Channel 22 this Sunday, May 21, 2023 at 7:00 PM.  In addition, the program will air several times over the next several weeks.
 
The program is also available for streaming 24/7 via Town Hall Streams.  To view the event online, please click here.
 
 
Books & Big Ideas Author Events
 
 
 

Turn on your book lights and grab your bookmarks because the Town of Kittery is hosting its first Community Read program called Books & Big Ideas.  The year-long program will celebrate and foster community dialogue around important themes affecting our community and those living and working within it.  Topics for the program will range from affordable housing to diversity, equity and inclusion, climate change and more.

Each topic featured as part of Books & Big Ideas will include options for a fiction, non-fiction and children/young adult title. Copies of each book will be available at the Rice Public Library, located at 8 Wentworth Street in Kittery.  Residents interested in acquiring the books included in this program should contact the library at 207-439-1553 or by visiting their website at www.rice.lib.me.us.

Community members of all ages are encouraged to participate by reading and sharing their perspectives with family, friends and neighbors in local book-clubs, at one of our upcoming group discussions, and on social media.  

The spring portion of Books & Big Ideas will take place from March 2023 - May 2023 and focus on the theme of housing.  Kittery and Maine as a whole, are in a housing crisis, which means there is a shortage of affordable housing options available to residents and workers of all ages.  The spring topic is “sponsored” by the Kittery Housing Committee and is part of their year-long community information drive.

The selected books have a shared theme of housing insecurity, and the importance of "home".  Through these stories, we seek to enrich the discussion about affordable housing and its place in our community.

The selected titles that explore the topic and impacts of affordable housing are:

Fiction: Paper Things by Jennifer Richard Jacobsen

Non-fiction: Housing for Humans by Ileana Schinder

Children/Young Adult:
  • Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
  •  A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
Books & Big Ideas - Spring Reading List

 

Book discussions are being planned for May for the Fiction and Non-fiction titles.  Information about the discussion events will be released in late April.

By reading and sharing unique perspectives about topics that affect those around us, we can find innovative and rewarding solutions to help Kittery thrive.