The University of Illinois Springfield is trying to get everybody on the same page — at least for its first community reading project this fall.
“We’ve been involved with community reads with Lincoln Library and other public libraries but have never organized one ourselves,” said Jane Treadwell, UIS librarian and dean of library instructional services.
The university’s One Book, One UIS initiative will use “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” by Katherine Boo, an account of the lives of the residents of a slum in Mumbai, India, as its centerpiece.
The campus community is being encouraged to read the book and participate in the initiative, which kicks off Friday with the screening of a film and concludes Oct. 8 with the second of two panel discussions.
Boo will speak Oct. 7 at Brookens Auditorium.
“Behind the Beautiful Forevers” won the National Book Award for nonfiction in 2012, was short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize and appeared on several best book lists.
The story was featured by The State Journal-Register on September 1, 2013.
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