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When Communities Read
Dr. David Carr recently presented a series of training sessions on “Project Orientation” for the “Durham Reads Together” program. The training benefited those interested in learning how to be book discussion facilitators.
September 9, 2005 – Dr. David Carr, associate professor at the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is not only leading reading discussions, he's training future facilitators on how to run discussions in their own communities.
A staunch proponent of library-centered reading groups, Carr is leading training sessions focused on facilitating group discussions for the “Durham Reads Together” project, a program designed to assist in providing the Durham community and public schools with books, services and other resources that inform, inspire learning, cultivate understanding and excite the imagination.
Developing community through reading is a topic close to Carr's heart. His involvement and professional interests are the basis of his current research project, “When Communities Read.” He demonstrates his enthusiasm for reading by sharing his expertise with communities far and wide.
Carr is a member of the “Durham Reads Together” Steering Committee and has worked with communitywide reading projects in Forsyth and Wake counties in North Carolina, as well as other local communities. He currently convenes the Carrboreaders Reading Group in Carrboro, and will moderate that community's three Community Book Forums this fall. In addition, community reading will be the theme of his formal presentations in Fredericksburg VA next week, and on a panel at Duke University in November.
“My participation in these sessions is always exciting, said Carr. “When people have read something strong and enriching – when they have read with their hearts open – it enhances the experience if they can come together in an intimate forum to talk. Toni Morrison says that reading should have a ‘talking life,' communication with others that follows the solitary experience. When communities read, they are learning lessons together that continuously connect them to each other.”
In Durham, reading groups are currently discussing the book, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride. Through training, Carr is assisting future facilitators of the reading program. Three UNC School of Information and Library Science students have also participated in the sessions and they will lead reading groups in the next few weeks.
Carr will present the final training session on “Project Orientation” for those interested in learning how to be book discussion facilitators on Friday, Sept. 16, 3 to 5 p.m. in the Main Library Conference Room of the Durham Library located at 300 N. Roxboro St. in downtown Durham. The training is free and open to the public. The city of Durham is holding a community wide “culture crawl” that evening as well.
For more specific information about the training for the “Durham Reads Together” program, please contact 560-0168 or send e-mail to: swright@co.durham.nc.us
An article published in the Sept. 3 issue of The Herald Sun also includes details of the program.