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One Book, One Community program brings students, community together

Contact: Janet Lillie, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, (517) 432-4063, lillieja@msu.edu; Ginny Haas, community relations, (517) 353-9001, haasv@msu.edu; or Meredith Mescher, University Relations, (517) 432-0305, mescherm@msu.edu

The One Book, One Community program at Michigan State University is much more than a book club. The annual program, now in its fifth year, encourages the East Lansing-MSU community to read the same book and come together to discuss it in a variety of settings.

"This is a large community initiative with East Lansing residents and students, especially incoming MSU freshmen," says Janet Lillie, associate dean for undergraduate education in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences.

The 2006 selection, “The Glass Castle” by journalist Jeannette Walls, chronicles her tumultuous upbringing with unorthodox parents struggling through poverty to find their place in society.

"We're seeing student participation in One Book events grow every year," Lillie says. "Freshmen have the chance to take a freshman seminar related to the book, and Jeannette Walls will visit the class, taking part in a conversation with the students. They get a greater sense of what the book was about by engaging the author in discussion."

A survey of last year's freshman class found 78 percent of them had read the selected book.

"We like to see students and residents engage one another," says Ginny Haas, director of community relations at MSU. "Residents in the community get to meet students in a positive way and get to know students who have different perspectives, but who think about many of the same issues."

To learn more about the One Book, One Community program, visit www.onebook.msu.edu/index.html