WEST PARIS — The West Paris Public Library has been selected by the Maine Humanities Council to offer Let’s Talk About It, a free reading and discussion group with copies of books available through the library.
The series begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, at the library, 226 Main St., and continues Thursdays through Dec. 13. Light refreshments will be provided at the 90-minute sessions.
The series, “Violence and Belonging: The 14th Amendment and American Literature,” was developed by librarian consultants Karen Eger and Marcela Peres with project scholar Eden Osucha, Ph.D, of Bates College in Lewiston.
The Maine Humanities Council website describes the series as looking at “books that address issues of diversity, identity, and inequality in exploring how, for many Americans, the promise of citizenship falls short of their reality.”
Robert Farnsworth will facilitate the discussions. He has published three books of poetry and recently retired as a senior lecturer in English from Bates College, where he taught for 26 years. He has participated in other “Let’s Talk About It” book discussion groups at the West Paris Public Library and is a skilled and enthusiastic facilitator.
Books to be read and discussed in the series include:
• Sept. 13: “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates;
• Oct. 4: “A Map of Home” by Randa Jarrar;
• Oct. 25: “The Marrow of Tradition” by Charles Chesnutt;
• Nov. 15: “Once in a Promised Land” by Laila Halaby; and
• Dec.13: “The Round House” by Louise Erdrich.
For more information or to register, call the library at 207-674-2004 or email librarian@westparislibrary.org. Provide name, address, telephone and email. After registration, pick up books at the library. Registration is limited to 25.
Library hours are 1:30 to 6 p.m. Monday and Friday; 1:30 to 7 p.m. Wednesday; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
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