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Georgia Southern University Libraries and College of Education receive “Great Stories Club” grant from the American Library Association

Lane Library (Georgia Southern University Libraries) has been selected 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, Vivian Bynoe, M.L.I.S. will work with Dr. Anne Katz, Associate Professor of Reading in the Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading (College of Education) to read and discuss stories with a literacy leadership group at Hubert Middle School in the Savannah-Chatham County School System that explore questions of race, identity, history, and social justice.  The books are curated around the theme “Growing Up Brave on the Margins: Courage and Coming of Age.” 

The titles were selected to inspire young people to consider “big questions” about the world around them and their place in it. Participating teens will also take part in storytelling sessions with local community leader Lillian Grant-Baptiste, where they will discuss issues surrounding identity. 

The project includes a programming grant and copies of each of the selected books, which will be gifted to the book club participants at the end of the program. Ms. Bynoe and Dr. Katz will receive resources and training, including travel for an orientation workshop in Chicago in October 2019. The workshop will include dialogue facilitation training led by consultants to Everyday Democracy.

Gatherings of the Great Stories Club will begin in October 2019 and extend through March 2020.

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.

About the American Library Association

The American Library Association (ALA) is the foremost national organization providing resources to inspire library and information professionals to transform their communities through essential programs and services. For more than 140 years, the ALA has been the trusted voice for academic, public, school, government and special libraries, advocating for the profession and the library’s role in enhancing learning and ensuring access to information for all. For more information, visit ala.org.

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