Attleboro Public Library receives Great Stories Club grant from the American Library Association
Grant will allow librarians to lead book clubs with underserved teens
(Attleboro, MA) — The Attleboro Public Library has been selected as one of 35 libraries nationwide to take part in the Great Stories Club, a reading and discussion program for underserved teens. This competitive grant is offered by the American Library Association (ALA) with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
As part of the Great Stories Club series on Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation, staff from the library will work with staff and teens at the Attleboro Community Academy (ACA) to read and discuss stories that explore questions of race, equity, identity, history, institutional change and social justice. ACA Principal Donna Maria Cameron states, “The ACA is excited to collaborate with the library on this project. This project aligns perfectly with our core principals of education that is student centered, relevant, and grounded in strong relationships among all members of the community.”
The books — curated for the theme “Growing Up Brave on the Margins: Courage and Coming of Age” — will include “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas; “X: A Novel” by Ilyashah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon; and “The Sun is Also a Star” by Nicola Yoon.
The titles were selected to inspire young people — especially those facing difficult circumstances or challenges — to consider “big questions” about the world around them and their place in it. Participating teens and library staff will also take part in racial healing sessions, where they will discuss questions of race and identity.
The Attleboro Public Library has received a $1200 programming grant and 11 copies of each of the selected books, which will be gifted to the book club participants at the end of the program. The Library and the Academy will also receive resources and training, including the travel and accommodations for Library Assistant Director Amy Rhilinger and Cameron who both attended the orientation workshop in Chicago on October 3 and 4. The workshop included dialogue facilitation training led by consultants to Everyday Democracy and program modeling led by national project scholar Susana M. Morris (Georgia Institute of Technology). Principal Cameron had this to say about the training: “Facilitator Monica Haslip told us, ‘the shortest distance between two people is their story.’ The workshop provided me with the tools to create a space where students can share their stories.” The Library hopes to utilize the training in conversations with the community in the future.
This will be the first time that the library and the academy have created a joint program and we look forward to the possibilities it will bring to our city. Gatherings of the Great Stories Club will begin on October 23rd. Book discussions will be facilitated with Academy staff and students by Meghan Witherell, the Teen/Tween Coordinator from the Attleboro Public Library. According to Mrs. Witherell, “It’s thrilling to be making these connections with community partners and local students while furthering our collective knowledge about the issues of race and society through books! We hope to foster a love of reading and work towards a better understanding of each other while discussing these timely topics.”
Since 2006, ALA’s Great Stories Club has helped libraries engage young adults with accessible, thought-provoking literature. The current series is part of the Kellogg Foundation’s Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation efforts, a comprehensive, national and community-based process to plan for and bring about transformational and sustainable change, and to address the historic and contemporary effects of racism.