Great Stories Club: Reading and Discussion for At-Risk Youth

FAIN: GW-259303-18

ALA (Chicago, IL 60611-2729)
Lainie Castle (Project Director: August 2017 to October 2022)

Implementation of a nationwide series of humanities-focused reading and discussion programs for at-risk youth dealing with themes of empathy, heroism, and marginalization.

The GSC is a thematic reading and discussion program developed to reach at-risk youth through literature-based library outreach programs. Featuring three new themed series developed with a planning grant from NEH, the GSC will introduce teens and others facing difficult circumstances to accessible and appealing books selected by literature scholars with a special interest in reaching the underserved; facilitate in-depth exploration of humanities themes that will resonate with reluctant readers who struggle with complex issues like incarceration, violence, poverty, and addiction; and connect participants to a highly successful national program model launched by ALA in 2006. Participants will explore themes that address interpretations and implications of empathy, concepts of heroism, and the coming of age experience for youth from historically marginalized groups through novels, memoirs, and non-fiction books as well as workshops developed by humanities scholars & librarians.

Associated Products

Info on Great Stories Club author virtual event (Blog Post)
Title: Info on Great Stories Club author virtual event
Author: PPO staff
Abstract: Libraries that received a GSC grant to implement the series "Empathy: The Cost of Switching Sides" joined ALA for a virtual event featuring March: Book Three co-authors. GSC teen readers also attended the webinar and were invited to submit questions to the authors.
Date: 09/12/2018
Primary URL: http://www.programminglibrarian.org/learn/march-andrew-aydin-and-nate-powell
Primary URL Description: Listing and description of event, with link to archived version
Secondary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk0Z1PuwJwY&t=472s
Secondary URL Description: Archived version on YouTube
Website: Programming Librarian

Agenda for GSC Orientation Workshop (Empathy Theme) (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Agenda for GSC Orientation Workshop (Empathy Theme)
Author: PPO staff and GSC advisors
Abstract: Copy of the two-day workshop agenda
Date Range: September 6-7. 2018
Location: Chicago, IL
Primary URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ala-ppo-general/trht/FinalAgenda_EmpathyWorkshop_Sept2018.pdf
Primary URL Description: Link to PDF of agenda

Call for Proposals (Empathy and Heroism grants) (Blog Post)
Title: Call for Proposals (Empathy and Heroism grants)
Author: PPO staff
Abstract: Blog post promoting open applications for Great Stories Club grant. Includes link to a related proposal planning webinar, which is available via archive.
Date: 05/08/2018
Primary URL: http://www.programminglibrarian.org/articles/apply-now-great-stories-club-book-club-underserved-youth
Website: Programming Librarian

Empathy theme keynote presentation (Sept.2018 workshop) (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Empathy theme keynote presentation (Sept.2018 workshop)
Author: Anna Mae Duane
Abstract: GSC scholar's presentation about the thematic vision of the series, Empathy: The Cost of Switching Sides
Date: 09/07/2018
Primary URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ala-ppo-general/trht/09102018/Empathy+theme+overview.pptx
Primary URL Description: Link to download scholar's PPT presentation
Secondary URL: https://apply.ala.org/greatstories/resources/empathy-grantees
Secondary URL Description: Additional presentation files are available on the Empathy resources webpage

Agenda for GSC Orientation Workshop (Heroism Theme) (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Agenda for GSC Orientation Workshop (Heroism Theme)
Author: ALA PPO and GSC advisors
Abstract: Agenda for the two-day workshop for libraries selected to host a GSC series on "What Makes a Hero? Self, Society and Rising to the Occasion."
Date Range: November 15-16, 2018.
Location: Chicago, IL
Primary URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ala-ppo-general/gschero/workshop/Agenda_HeroismWorkshop_November2018.pdf
Primary URL Description: Link to workshop agenda, from GSC website.

Heroism theme keynote presentation (November 2018 workshop) (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Heroism theme keynote presentation (November 2018 workshop)
Author: Maria Sachiko Cecire
Abstract: Dr. Cecire's presentation with notes; a keynote about the overarching theme of the GSC series, intended to connect librarian project directors to the humanities ideas and questions inherent to the series.
Date: 11/16/2018
Primary URL: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ala-ppo-general/gschero/workshop/Heroism+Theme+Overview.pptx
Primary URL Description: PPT file of presentation
Conference Name: GSC Orientation Workshop for Library Project Directors

Empathy theme keynote presentation (webinar) (Web Resource)
Title: Empathy theme keynote presentation (webinar)
Author: Anna Mae Duane
Abstract: Dr. Duane delivers an overview of the theme "Empathy: The Cost of Switching Sides" for librarians who will host this series in their libraries, but attended the workshop on the other theme (Heroism).
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s6kzkvuXFY
Primary URL Description: Recording of the live webinar, originally presented via Zoom.

What Makes a Hero? Self, Society and Rising to the Occasion - MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES (Web Resource)
Title: What Makes a Hero? Self, Society and Rising to the Occasion - MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES
Author: Maria Sachiko Cecire
Abstract: Legends, literature, media, and history are full of stories about heroes who rise to the occasion in moments of need, taking on great risk for the good of others. What makes a person able to perform heroic acts? Is this something that certain people are just born with, or does it grow out of our circumstances and upbringing? Related to this is the essential question of how much control we actually have over our own self-making. Major thinkers have debated these questions for centuries, and individuals continue to grapple with them as they face down the challenges — sometimes seemingly small, other times impossibly large — of everyday life. The books in this series each take a different view of what it means to be a hero, considering how the combination of unique social circumstances, compassion for others, and inner resources can make it possible for young people to perform acts that they may not have imagined themselves capable of achieving.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: http://www.ala.org/tools/programming/greatstories/resources/hero
Primary URL Description: This page provides access to all materials needed to promote and implement a GSC reading and discussion series on the Heroism theme.

Empathy: The Cost of Switching Sides - MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES (Web Resource)
Title: Empathy: The Cost of Switching Sides - MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES
Author: Anna Mae Duane
Abstract: Empathy has been held up as a balm for our divided society by everyone from neuroscientists to primatologists to political thinkers. Yet as the consensus grows that we need to cultivate more empathy, the scarcer it seems to become. From political debates, to cultural choices, to classroom conversations, we seem increasingly unable to engage in empathetic exchange. Instead, we pick sides and dig in against perceived enemies. Recent studies have made the case that literature is perhaps our greatest resource for developing empathy; as authors push us to inhabit the lives of their characters, we find ourselves a little less likely to retreat behind the walls of our own moral certainty. 2 The books chosen for this series complicate that equation: each text encourages readers to explore the power of empathy, but also helps us understand why empathy can be so hard to come by. Each text invites the readers to, in the words of Joyce Carol Oates, “slip ... into another’s skin, another’s voice, another’s soul.” They also confront readers with the dangers of feeling — and acting on — another’s pain.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: http://www.ala.org/tools/programming/greatstories/resources/empathy
Primary URL Description: This page provides access to all materials needed to promote and implement a GSC reading and discussion series on the Empathy theme.

Growing Up Brave: Courage and Coming of Age - MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES (Web Resource)
Title: Growing Up Brave: Courage and Coming of Age - MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES
Author: Susana Morris
Abstract: Growing from a child to a teenager to a young adult usually involves a number of rites of passage. From bar and bat mitzvahs, sweet sixteen parties, and quinceñeras, to getting a driver’s license, attending prom, and graduating from high school, there are any number of formal and often public rituals that mark the steady journey from childhood to adulthood. While these events vary from culture to culture, they usually include educational milestones, parties that celebrate maturity, and special responsibilities that reflect newfound trust from one’s community. These moments can be both scary and exciting. However, many formative moments for young people happen in more informal settings. Everything from dating to dealing with family or society at large all provide opportunities for challenge and growth. And the truth is that young people are not navigating these public and private moments in a vacuum. Indeed, young people are sometimes figuring out their morals, values, and increasing independence while living in societies that do not always value their newfound voices. This circumstance is drawn into particularly sharp relief for young people in historically marginalized groups. Not only do they have to figure out all the “normal” stuff that comes with growing up, they have to do so with the added burden of negative social pressure. The books in this series emphasize the role of discovering one’s own power, exploring how protagonists find out who they are and what they stand for. They also emphasize fighting the powers that be, often by banding together with other scared, but brave, folks who are not only willing to fight for themselves but for the good of the greater society. Finally, they explore the consequences of bravery, illustrating how young people’s choices can have an impact on themselves and the world around them.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://www.ala.org/tools/programming/greatstories/resources/brave
Primary URL Description: This page provides access to all materials needed to promote and implement a GSC reading and discussion series on the Bravery theme.

Deeper Than Our Skins - MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES (Web Resource)
Title: Deeper Than Our Skins - MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES
Author: Maria Sachiko Cecire
Abstract: "The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” As a candidate for president for the United States in 2008, then-Senator Barack Obama used these words to argue that we can only ever truly understand — and begin to overcome — the bitterness of modern race relations in the light of brave and accurate accounting of history. Obama’s line is a slightly altered version of a quote from Southern author William Faulkner; in other words, he turned to literature as a source of wisdom about the difficult subject of race in America, and built upon what he found there to imagine new pathways towards justice, healing, and unity. The “Deeper Than Our Skins” theme is grounded in literature that can help us look beneath the surface of racism in America to reveal how the past is alive in the present. This theme uses powerful stories of oppression, resistance, suffering, and triumph to identify the roots of racialized experience in the United States, and to inspire discussions around how to construct more equitable futures for the people in our nation and world.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://www.ala.org/tools/programming/greatstories/resources/skins
Primary URL Description: This page provides access to all materials needed to promote and implement a GSC reading and discussion series on the Deeper Than Our Skins theme.

Finding Your Voice - MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES (Web Resource)
Title: Finding Your Voice - MATERIALS FOR LIBRARIES
Author: Susana Morris
Abstract: The old adage goes “children should be seen and not heard.” That conventional wisdom implies that speaking up and out is the exclusive realm of adults. It also suggests that children and young people don’t have important things to say — that they should stay out of adult conversation. The truth is that young people have been vital to making change by speaking and showing up in the face of adversity. Take Joan of Arc, for example. In 1429, while just 18 years old, she led a French army to the besieged city of Orléans in a victory over the English. But we don’t have to go back to 15th-century France to find young heroes. On November 14, 1960, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first African American child to integrate a white Southern elementary school. Her mother and U.S. marshals had to escort young Ruby to class because of violent mobs in her hometown of New Orleans. Bridges was born the same year that Brown v. Board of Education made “separate but equal” public spaces illegal, and her bravery was a milestone in the Civil Rights movement. This series includes books that highlight the necessity and power of young people speaking up against injustice despite challenges, social pressure, and even the threat of bigger dangers. Whether it is finding righteous anger as a superpower or pursuing activism through poetry and art, Finding Your Voice features young people speaking out against racism and other systems of oppression in order to change the world.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://www.ala.org/tools/programming/greatstories/resources/voice
Primary URL Description: This page provides access to all materials needed to promote and implement a GSC reading and discussion series on the Finding Your Voice theme.

Agenda for GSC Orientation Workshop (Bravery Theme) (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Agenda for GSC Orientation Workshop (Bravery Theme)
Author: Susana Morris
Author: Lainie Castle
Abstract: Two-day agenda for representatives from 35 libraries that hosted a GSC series on the Bravery theme.
Date: 10/03/2019

Agenda for GSC workshop (Skins theme) (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Agenda for GSC workshop (Skins theme)
Author: Maria Sachiko Cecire
Author: Lainie Castle
Author: Leslie King
Author: Mee Moua
Abstract: Two-day workshops agenda for 30 libraries that implemented a Deeper Than Our Skins GSC series.
Date: 02/21/2019

Agenda for GSC workshop (Voice theme) (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Agenda for GSC workshop (Voice theme)
Author: Susana Morris
Author: Lainie Castle
Author: Leslie King
Author: Mee Moua
Abstract: Agenda for two-day workshop for 40 library professionals who implemented a Finding Your Voice series.
Date: 03/01/2019

Great Stories Club Programming Guide (PDF) (Web Resource)
Title: Great Stories Club Programming Guide (PDF)
Author: ALA Staff
Abstract: A comprehensive how-to guide for libraries and other interested parties to implement a Great Stories Club. The guide includes information about themes developed with funding from NEH and the WK Kellogg Foundation, profiles of key programs around the country, and other general program planning information.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://www.ala.org/tools/sites/ala.org.tools/files/content/GSC_Prog_Guide%20-%20WEB.pdf
Primary URL Description: PDF to download a copy of the guide, which was also produced in print format.

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