Beginning in September, we invited patrons to join us in a reading challenge. It’s not too late to get started, however! First, join Beanstack, or sign in if you’ve already created an account. Then read any book that fits within the following 10 topics: African-American Voices, Asian-American Voices, Diverse Abilities, Female Voices, Hispanic-American Voices, Immigration, LGBTQ+ Voices, Native American Voices, Social Injustice, and Voices Experiencing Poverty and Homelessness.

Within each category, you are asked to look at the lists of books provided and read and share the name of one book you’ve read in that category. Then you earn a ticket to enter a drawing to win a gift card from the following businesses: The One World Shop, Al-Pita, Brown Sugar Thai, Southern Cafe West, and the Vegan Donut Company.

Starting today, visit the library, where we will have a display of titles and book lists so that you can find a book to get started. Also, check out Shannon’s past blog posts– she lists books and organizations that address difficult topics, from Immigration to Incarceration. The American Library Association’s Celebrating Diversity Recommended Reading is also a place to start.

Over the next weeks, I’ll share a few titles that I’ve personally read that fit into these categories, starting with African-American voices:

The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Beloved or The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Known World by Edward P. Jones
The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
The Fifth Season series by N.K. Jemisin
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Americanah by
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride

Hope to see your choices in our Reading Challenge; when we read together and share together, we stand together.

~ Dori