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. In 2021, we shifted this annual program to start each year on July 1.
Over 200 different Vermont towns, cities, and villages have participated in Vermont Reads to date. Schools, libraries, service organizations, churches, businesses, or other community-based organizations can start by filling out a brief application.
Created by Tillie Walden from archival materials at the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History in Middlebury, “Charity and Sylvia” is a groundbreaking biography that is also the story of 19th century America. We are now accepting Vermont Reads 2026, and projects can begin as early July 1, 2026.
A list of the books selected since 2003 for our state-wide community reading program.
Vermont Reads 2026 is presented with support from the Trout Lily Foundation, the Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation,
Drawn & Quarterly, and many others.
Additional support from By the People: Conversations Beyond 250, a series of community-driven programs created by humanities councils in collaboration with local partners. This initiative was developed by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
October 8
Callie Raspuzzi, the Collections Manager at the Bennington Museum, will present on The Jane A. Stickle Quilt. Made in 1863, during the Civil War, this amazing quilt includes 169 five-inch blocks, each in different patterns and fabric, containing a total of 5,602 pieces surrounded by a unique scalloped border. This illustrated talk will explore the history of the quilt and its maker. It will also use the quilt as a jumping-off point to talk about diverse topics, including female education, the Civil War, country fairs, disability, textile manufacture, poverty, and museum collecting.
October 9
Join us for this special presentation from Tillie Walden about the creation of graphic novel Charity and Sylvia.
October 9
Starting from the text of Charity and Sylvia, we’ll look at the aesthetic choices available to Charity and Sylvia and explore how American LGBTQ+ artists have used fiber as a medium of expression, visibility and remembrance. Beyond the practical aspects of how a fabric functions, we’ll explore how fabric is designed for beauty and delight. We’ll peek into monumental twentieth-century craftivist projects, like the AIDS Memorial Quilt, highlight some under recognized queer figures in American fiber arts and explore how contemporary queer fiber artists use some of the techniques appearing in Charity and Sylvia in their own works.
October 10
Discover how timber crews cleared mountain forests and ran even a 16-mile logging railroad up Lye Brook to feed the raw materials for wood pulp, connecting our mountain valleys directly to the nation’s appetite for paper. Alongside the lecture, get hands-on with the papermaking process as we use cut fabric scraps prepared during October 3rd’s Taconic Music event to make paper pulp.
October 10
Join us for a book discussion of this year’s Vermont Reads selection, Charity & Sylvia. All are welcome!
October 10
This presentation is based on the research Michele Pagan has done into the Revolutionary War ancestors of the girls who made 19th century schoolgirl samplers. Needlework samplers are a visual record of the values that guided early female education in Vermont, including its focus on needlework as an essential skill for all girls and women. As artifacts of female education, they provide insight into family dynamics, local history, and community values.
October 14
Join us for a book discussion of this year’s Vermont Reads selection, Charity & Sylvia. All are welcome!
October 15
This presentation is based on the research Michele Pagan has done into the Revolutionary War ancestors of the girls who made 19th century schoolgirl samplers. Needlework samplers are a visual record of the values that guided early female education in Vermont, including its focus on needlework as an essential skill for all girls and women. As artifacts of female education, they provide insight into family dynamics, local history, and community values.
October 18
Join us for a book discussion of this year’s Vermont Reads selection, Charity & Sylvia. This discussion will be facilitated by Joanna Tebbs Young. All are welcome!
October 19
Join us for a book discussion of this year’s Vermont Reads selection, Charity & Sylvia. All are welcome!
October 19
Join us for this special presentation from Tillie Walden about the creation of graphic novel Charity and Sylvia.
October 20
Join us for a book discussion of this year’s Vermont Reads selection, Charity & Sylvia. This discussion will be facilitated by Ben Hewitt. All are welcome!
Our seasonal “Words in the Woods” program allows Vermonters and visitors to enjoy our state’s natural beauty while listening to and reading literature in the outdoors.
Humanities Camps are filled with reading and writing projects, field trips, and outdoor activities.
We won a 2020 Schwartz Prize for best public humanities programming in the U.S. for Vermont Reads 2019: “March: Book One.”
We supported the Chandler Center for the Arts’ Global Connections Youth Outreach program, which highlights artists from around the world.
Our free public events help bring the power of the humanities to communities across Vermont.
