MARLBORO — The Marlboro College Library and the Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro have been selected as one of 100 libraries nationwide to take part in the Great Stories Club, a reading and discussion program for underserved teens.
According to a news release, this competitive grant is offered by the American Library Association with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Staff from Marlboro and the Boys & Girls Club will work with teens to read and discuss stories that explore what it means to be a hero.
The books - curated for the theme “What Makes a Hero? Self, Society and Rising to the Occasion” - will include Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze; Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began ” by Art Spiegelman; What Can(t) Wait by Ashley Hope Pérez; and Buck: A Memoir by M.K. Asante.
The titles were selected in consultation with humanities scholars and librarians to inspire teens - especially those facing difficult circumstances or challenges - to consider “big questions” about the world around them and their place in it, ultimately affecting how they view themselves as thinkers and creators.
As part of the grant, Marlboro College will receive 11 copies of each of the selected books, which will be gifted to the book club participants. Marlboro College will also receive resources and training, including travel and accommodations for an orientation workshop in Chicago.
The workshops will include dialogue facilitation training led by consultants to Everyday Democracy and program modeling led by national project scholars Maria Sachiko Cecire (Bard College) and Anna Mae Duane (University of Connecticut).
Gatherings of the Great Stories Club at the Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro began this month. More information can be found by contacting the Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro at 802-254-5990. For more information about the club, visit www.bgcbratlleboro.com.