Montgomery County: Statewide reading program kicks off with "A Hope in the Unseen"
Issue date: 8/24/08 Section: Neighborhood
Montgomery County Public Libraries will participate in the first One Maryland One Book Reading Program designed to encourage the shared experience of reading and discussing the same pre-selected book.
The book chosen is Ron Suskind's "A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League." It relates the life of Cedric Jennings, a young man who grew up in Southeast Washington, D.C., and struggled to emerge from his blighted neighborhood. The book covers the period in Jennings' life from 10th grade at Ballou High School through his college years at Brown University.
Jennings will be the guest of honor at the kickoff ceremony on August 19 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Theater Arts Building on the Rockville campus of Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee Street. He will discuss the years covered in the book and sign copies. This is a free, no registration required, program. Refreshments will be served.
Sponsored by The Maryland Center for the Book, the program will also consist of book discussions and related programs at public libraries, high schools, colleges and universities, museums and bookstores around the state from August through October. The programs will conclude in October with two discussions on race and race relations.
"We are delighted about our participation in the first state wide 'One Maryland One Book' Program," said library director Parker Hamilton. "We are pleased to have Cedric Jennings join us during the kick-off ceremony. Reading is powerful; people reading the same book at the same time is phenomenal; those people coming together for discussions and conversations about that book is awesome."
The Maryland Center for the Book, part of the Maryland Humanities Council, develops and supports programs that promote books, reading, libraries, Maryland writers and the state's literary heritage.
For more information, visit your local branch or www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library.
The book chosen is Ron Suskind's "A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League." It relates the life of Cedric Jennings, a young man who grew up in Southeast Washington, D.C., and struggled to emerge from his blighted neighborhood. The book covers the period in Jennings' life from 10th grade at Ballou High School through his college years at Brown University.
Jennings will be the guest of honor at the kickoff ceremony on August 19 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Theater Arts Building on the Rockville campus of Montgomery College, 51 Mannakee Street. He will discuss the years covered in the book and sign copies. This is a free, no registration required, program. Refreshments will be served.
Sponsored by The Maryland Center for the Book, the program will also consist of book discussions and related programs at public libraries, high schools, colleges and universities, museums and bookstores around the state from August through October. The programs will conclude in October with two discussions on race and race relations.
"We are delighted about our participation in the first state wide 'One Maryland One Book' Program," said library director Parker Hamilton. "We are pleased to have Cedric Jennings join us during the kick-off ceremony. Reading is powerful; people reading the same book at the same time is phenomenal; those people coming together for discussions and conversations about that book is awesome."
The Maryland Center for the Book, part of the Maryland Humanities Council, develops and supports programs that promote books, reading, libraries, Maryland writers and the state's literary heritage.
For more information, visit your local branch or www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library.
Be the first to comment on this story