Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Saturday, June 28, 2008
Program aims to get UW-L students, community on the same page
It’s community-wide, it’s voluntary, and it’s great for book lovers. A program at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse encourages everyone to pick up and read — the same book.
The voluntary book club is starting this summer with “Funny in Farsi” by Firoozeh Dumas, and the common reading program will continue through the fall semester. People off campus are invited to create their own spin-off book discussion groups, said Chris Dziekan, one coordinator of the program.
The event will culminate with the author speaking on campus Nov. 18.
“We are trying to create a culture of reading,” he said. “The more buzz, the more people excited about the book, the bigger the event becomes.”
It’s also a great way to get incoming college students reading, he said.
“The volume and expectations of reading in college are higher than in high school,” he said.“This gets them reading for that increased expectation.”
Coordinators also hope parents participate.
“Leaving home is always an adjustment for students and parents,” said April Handtke, one of the program coordinators and assistant director of residence life at UW-L. “We want to find some vehicles that can be a connection.”
ONE BOOK
Not big on digging into Shakespeare or concentrated academic readings? No worries, Dziekan assures, “Funny in Farsi” is an easy read.
The book is a lighthearted and humorous journey through the eyes of an Iranian girl who moves to California in 1971 during grade school and experiences cultural conflicts.
Although it’s a rather quick read, “it tackles some issues in a non-threatening ways,” Dziekan said. “It gets you hooked.”
ONE UNIVERSITY
UW-L has been home to plenty of book clubs before, but this is the first time the university has coordinated a program that encompasses much more. Book clubs will be organized in the residence halls, in the community and even online for students and parents.
The book will be required reading for all 100 First Year Seminar students, and UW-L faculty may choose to incorporate the book into their courses as required or recommended reading.
Program coordinators didn’t want to choose an academically challenging book but one that would foster a love of reading, said Betsy Morgan, coordinator of First Year Seminar, which is a one-credit college orientation course for freshmen. She hopes community members will join in.
“It’s easy for people to come to sporting events but harder to connect to academic side of what is happening at our university,” she said.
ONE COMMUNITY
UW-L has just begun contacting bookstores, libraries and area book clubs to see how they would like to participate.
The La Crosse Public Library will order extra copies and host book discussions in October, said Patricia Boge, community relations coordinator for the La Crosse Public Library.
The shared-reading concept originated in 1998 with a librarian in Seattle and took off locally at libraries countywide from 2002-07 with the “Read One Book Program,” Boge said.
“It was a lot of work, but successful,” she said, adding they might restart the program one day.
Other universities have adapted the idea as well, Dziekan said, with entire freshman classes reading the same book to “create a sense of the same class,” he said.
FIND A BOOK
Copies of “Funny in Farsi” are available for $10.93 at the UW-L campus bookstore. Other area bookstores are ordering the book, and the La Crosse Public Library will have extra copies. To learn more about the book and author, go online at www.firoozehdumas.com.
KJ Lang can be reached at (608) 791-8226
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