Readers' Corner
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One Library, One Book
Our new selection is Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Relin. In 1993 a mountaineer named Greg Mortenson drifted into an impoverished village in the Karakoram Mountains after a failed attempt to climb K2. Moved by the inhabitants' kindness, he promised to return and build a school. Copies of the book are available for checkout at the library.
The Library intends to make this reading program as far-reaching as possible. In 2007, To Kill a Mockingbird was our first title selected, just as Chicago selected this title for One Book, One City. Our second selection is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Relin.
We hope that many people throughout our communities will be reading and talking about Three Cups of Tea on their front porches and across neighborhoods. Programs will be planned to get people to come to the library, ask questions, seek to understand, and join the conversation. The goal of the program is to get as many residents of Park Forest and Olympia Fields to read Three Cups of Tea as possible.
INTRODUCTION FROM FIRST BOOK DISCUSSION,
AUGUST 26, 2008
I want to extend a special thank you to the excellent staff team of Mary Van Swol, Susan Stumbaugh, Loretta Knight, and Larissa Smith for coordinating the 2008 One Library One Book programs, beginning with tonight’s kick-off and running through November.
According to the book, 3 cups is how long it takes for people to become family. With the first cup of tea we are strangers, with the second we become friends, and with the third we join each other as family.
The driving philosophy behind reading together as a community—the goal of everyone reading the same book—is that when people speak their minds and discuss their own varieties of experience, when they receive respect for their opinions and the good will of their fellows, things change for the better. Our hope is that good things will get done in our home communities as well as around the world as a result of this shared experience of reading.
Three Cups of Tea is a powerful book to share because this real-life story shows us the impact of kindness. Because he was moved by the people’s kindness, Mortenson promised to return and build a school. He builds schools to educate primarily young women in rural northern Pakistan because if young women are educated they are less likely to allow their eventual sons to be used as terrorists or suicide bombers.
If we meet tonight as strangers over our first cup of tea, we ask that you please return for a second and a third cup. What better place to build a community family than a public library? One of my favorite aspirations for a public library is to be a place with a local touch and a global reach.
The Pennies for Peace program is meant to teach children the rewards of sharing and working together to bring hope and educational opportunities to children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. A penny in the United States is virtually worthless, but in Pakistan and Afghanistan a penny buys a pencil and opens the door to literacy.
In our own community, School Supplies bundles were given away here on Saturday, August 23. There was a line of over 100 patrons waiting when we opened our doors. Library staff and some generous patrons pooled their resources to lend a hand to help make a better tomorrow in our community. Our local touch connects us with our neighbors; our global reach makes the WORLD larger for all of us.
Thank you!
~Barbara Osuch, Library Director
LINKS
Central Asia Institute | David Oliver Relin Official Website |
Greg Mortenson Official Website | Pakistan | Pennies for Peace |
Three Cups of Tea Blog |Three Cups of Tea Official Website |
