Reading Deeply in Community

FAIN: GI-230680-15

People and Stories Gente Y Cuentos Inc. (Lawrenceville, NJ 08648-2815)
Patricia Ann Andres (Project Director: January 2015 to present)

Implementation of bilingual reading and discussion programs at ten library sites across the country conducting 320 programs.

Using the proven People & Stories/Gente y Cuentos method for engaging new humanities audiences in literature discussion, we propose in collaboration with ten public libraries, to provide 40 Reading Deeply in Community series with groups of 15-20 underserved adults. Each series is eight weeks, an hour and half per week. A trained program coordinator will meet with groups at the collaborating libraries to read aloud, in English or in Spanish, a short story of poetic depth, beauty, and power. The coordinator reads the story aloud while participants read along with the copies provided. Our method--an oral reading and in-depth probing of contemporary and classic short stories--allows participants to encounter literature in the context of their own varied life experiences. Lively, structured dialogues help readers challenge their assumptions, communicate across cultural, class and ethnic/racial differences and know first-hand the transformative power of literature.