North Coast Neighbors Share a Book

When the snows hit the greater Cleveland area this winter, area libraries are suggesting that you curl up with a good book. The same good book. All of us. Everyone in all of the North Coast is encouraged to read To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee?s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, at the same time. And then talk about it. With your friends, with your book clubs, at your place of business, in your place of worship, with others in the grocery line, with people older and younger than you are and with others not of your race or ethnicity. Libraries are encouraging you to share your ideas and insights on the issues portrayed in the book, social justice, civil rights, legal ethics, relationships between parents and children, in as many ways as possible and with as many people as possible.

The program will officially kick off on Martin Luther King Day, January 21, and the grand finale will be held during National Library Week, April 14 - 20. A showing of the movie with Gregory Peck will be held at the Shaker Heights Theater on the evening of January 21. To facilitate discussion, the Geauga County Public Library will be sponsoring several major programs as well as encouraging and aiding such programs in our schools and throughout the community. Some of the programs are listed in this Lines and Links, but look for a special flyer that will list all of the activities that we will be sponsoring to come out at the first of the year. Also, keep an eye on our web site, www.geauga.lib.oh.us , as it will be constantly updated with events that are being scheduled by the library and in the community. If you are interested in finding out how you can participate in these activities, call Anne Prusha or Ellen Leavitt at 440-286-6811 or email them at [email protected].

The area-wide programs are being sponsored by CAMLS, the Cleveland area's regional library system. Other similar programs have run successfully in Seattle and Chicago. Libraries in the Cleveland area believe that they are the logical sponsors for such a reading extravaganza, and they are hoping that bookstores and newspapers and schools will get involved as well.

Those who have read the book or have participated in a program or a discussion will be given a lapel pin that will identify them as ones who are interested in discussing the book. When you see another person in the entire North Coast area who is wearing this pin, you will be able to strike up a conversation on the spot. It is important to stress that this is not just a reading initiative, although it certainly is that. Even more, it is an attempt to get people discussing the issues that are important to our lives and the lives or our families and our community. We will all be better for it.