LitMinds partners with SJSU's Campus Reading program
As you’ve probably noticed, LitMinds is growing by leaps and bounds. Since our launch in February, we’ve expanded the community tremendously to include new things like author and bookstore profiles, email notifications, and, not least of all, many new members.
But we’ve also been growing in ways that aren’t so obvious. One of the new projects we’re doing is partnering with the Campus Reading program at San Jose State University. Campus Reading programs, which are cropping up at schools and cities across the country, seek to foster connections, both intellectual and otherwise, among members of a community and to promote a culture of reading. At SJSU, every year all members of the university – students, faculty and staff – are encouraged to read the same book over the summer. When the school year begins, readers participate in discussion groups and events inside and outside of the classroom such as plays and author talks to analyze the book and how it affected them. This year, the book SJSU has chosen is ZZ Packer’s Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, a collection of short stories.
LitMinds has partnered with SJSU to add an important element to the discussions of Packer’s book: an online component. Earlier this year, you may have noticed several posts on the board about Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Those were part of a pilot program we did with an English literature course at SJSU. For Campus Reading, we intend to play a similar role, providing a home in our community for online discussions of the book, both for classes using it as part of the curriculum, and for members of discussion groups. You’ll see a few of these discussions on the home page, where the most recently updated topics are displayed; the rest will be on a new board earmarked for the SJSU Campus Reading program.
We at LitMinds are very excited to be involved in the program, and we hope you’ll enjoy seeing – and participating in - some of the discussions, as well. Campus Reading programs are a great tool for promoting reading and community building, and we’re happy to have a hand in a project whose aims are so close to our own.
You’ll start seeing more about Campus Reading when the SJSU school year begins at the end of August. Until then, we encourage you to check out the program, to read Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, which is a truly wonderful book, and, of course, to let us know if you have any questions about this program or anything else in the community. And as always, thanks for being a part of LitMinds!
LitMinds has partnered with SJSU to add an important element to the discussions of Packer’s book: an online component. Earlier this year, you may have noticed several posts on the board about Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Those were part of a pilot program we did with an English literature course at SJSU. For Campus Reading, we intend to play a similar role, providing a home in our community for online discussions of the book, both for classes using it as part of the curriculum, and for members of discussion groups. You’ll see a few of these discussions on the home page, where the most recently updated topics are displayed; the rest will be on a new board earmarked for the SJSU Campus Reading program.
You’ll start seeing more about Campus Reading when the SJSU school year begins at the end of August. Until then, we encourage you to check out the program, to read Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, which is a truly wonderful book, and, of course, to let us know if you have any questions about this program or anything else in the community. And as always, thanks for being a part of LitMinds!