Since 2003, Vermont Humanities has invited students, adults, and seniors across the state to read the same book and participate in a wide variety of community activities related to the book’s themes.
Vermont Reads in Schools
We’re constantly impressed by the creativity and dedication shown by middle and high school teachers who build curriculum around our Vermont Reads choices. Their projects have included cartooning lessons, author visits, creative writing seminars, protest marches, special luncheons, and even a trip to a local cemetery!
Librarians Carole Renca (left) and Amy Cudney gathered books about the Civil Rights Movement and the Great Migration to help Edmunds Middle School teachers lead Brown Girl Dreaming projects in 2017. A quilt inspired by Jacqueline Woodson’s memoir was raffled to help Edmunds purchase more library materials about diversity.
As part of two virtual Vermont Reads events held in 2020—including one for students across the state—former Vermont State Librarian Jason Broughton asked Angie Thomas, the author of The Hate U Give, about the first book she could never put down. Her answer: “Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry” by Mildred D. Taylor. “It was about a Black girl in Mississippi, and I was a Black girl in Mississippi,” Thomas said.
December 8, 2021
