Linking Libraries, Communities & Cultures

About the Program

Category: Libraries (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

The American Library Association’s Living Libraries, Communities, and Cultures 2008 public affairs slogan became the perfect theme for the 2008-2009 All Henrico Reads Project sponsored by the Henrico County Public Library and Henrico County Public Schools. This type of project is not unique where an author or a book title is chosen with the intent that the entire community will read the book and have public discussions. This project was very much in keeping with one of the goals of the public library—to promote literacy. This literacy project, however, met a broader goal. Selected author, Julia Alvarez, wrote stories of the immigrant experience that could help them reach their growing Henrico Hispanic population and generate community discussion about this controversial political issue. They wanted to communicate to Hispanic families that public libraries and schools were eager to assist them in helping learn English and find reading materials that would help with their assimilation into the American way of life.