Community Reads: Austin Page Turners City Wide Read

SELCO's Community Reads Grant Program?is a subset of our Community Collaboration Grant. Designed specifically to aid libraries in their community-wide reading efforts, this program is intended to promote reading, research, and discovery through the sharing of perspectives among local residents who read the same book and participate in programs focused on the community selected title. Unlike Community Collaboration Grants, this is not a competitive grant program. It is reviewed by SELCO staff to assure compliance with state statutes. Each library may be awarded up to $1,500 toward its program, with funds able to be used to underwrite the honoraria and travel expenses of featured speakers and expand local advertising/marketing. Austin Page Turners' goal is that participants will build literacy skills and a better understanding of the writing process. The program allows people from all over the community to read the same book and share different perspectives about the book. The expectation of the program is for people to participate with the community and to read the book. Page Turners is a volunteer group in Austin, Minnesota and have been sponsoring city-wide book reading events since 2002. Each year we choose a book and then the author comes to spend a day in Austin. We have been featuring Minnesota authors. This year's book is Stars Over Clear Lake by Loretta Ellsworth.