Community Reads: Ken Nerburn Author Visit to Plainview
Plainview Library's non-fiction book club "Reason to Read" read "Neither Wolf nor Dog" earlier this year and deeply enjoyed Kent Nerburn's perspective. They were eager for Mr. Nerburn to visit our library, so that the rest of the community could meet this wonderful book and author. Prior to the event, twenty copies of the book were made available at the library and Bennett's Grocery Store for members of the public. All of the copies were claimed by interested readers. Several individuals report reading the book and then passing it on to a friend or colleague who might enjoy it.
9 participated
The goals of this program are to introduce new readers to the works of Kent Nerburn. We expect that those who attend the program will be more likely read additional books by Mr. Nerburn following the program. We will measure these outcomes by doing surveys before and after the program. Outcomes will be measured using surveys.
One audience member wrote the following about the event, "Kent Nerburn, one of my favorite Minnesota writers, visited the Plainview library this afternoon. His book, Neither Wolf Nor Dog, truly resonated with my spiritual knowledge and connection with the Minnesota landscape. For those of you who know my poetry, you understand my love of the land here. I was honored to sit and learn from this author."
"We had discussed one of the author's books in our book club. We were left with many questions we wanted to ask the author, so it was awesome to get a chance to ask them."
Six survey evaluations were submitted-
1. Please rate the overall quality of the program.
Exceeded Expectations -- 5 Above Average -- 1
2. The program was a positive [learning/entertaining] experience.
Strongly agree -- 6
3. Had you read any books by Kent Nerburn prior to the announcement of this program? Yes--5, No--1
4. Did this program cause you to be more likely to seek out his books? Yes--6
5. Is there a Minnesota author that you would like to visit our library? Three respondents answered that they would love a visit from Louise Erdrich.
6. What did you like best about this program? "Laid back presentation like he was visiting with us"
"It was real" "The casual, laid-back style of presentation. It was having a conversation with him."
One of the stated goals of our project was to introduce new readers to the works of Kent Nerburn. While it is clear from the survey that most audience members had read some of his works prior to the announcement of the project, at least three audience members read every single book by Nerburn prior to his visit. Several of the participants were nearly evangelistic in their attempt to promote Nerburn's books. Unfortunately, there is not a way to measure the reading behaviors of the individuals who got the book at the grocery store. We were able to tell from the surveys that while the audience was few in number, they profoundly enjoyed their time with Kent Nerburn.
SELCO, Plainview Public Library, Pine Island Public Library, Wabasha Public Library, Lake City Public Library