The following is part of a guest editorial written by UIS Chancellor Susan Koch. It was published in the September 8, 2013 edition of The State Journal-Register.
"I’m especially pleased this year that our early fall schedule on the Springfield campus includes something new — a community reading project. Since the late 1990s, the concept of a community read, originated by the Washington Center for the Book, has proliferated across the country and around the world — bringing people together from a wide spectrum of backgrounds through the reading and discussion of a common book.
The One Book, One UIS initiative is the brainchild of Jane Treadwell, UIS librarian and dean of Library Instructional Services. When Jane and I first discussed the idea a year ago, she reminded me of the promise in our vision statement—to enrich individual lives and to make a difference in the world.
“Books have been banned and burned,” she said, “because they have power; the power of ideas.”
The chancellor was an easy sell, and Jane immediately launched the project, forming a planning group and soliciting suggestions from members of Friends of the Brookens Library and others on campus and in the community of Springfield and beyond."
Read the full column online
