Highlights of 2024 included the overwhelming success of Gather for Vermont Reads, a star-studded Vermont Book Awards, the largest number of Humanities Camps in recent years, and the first-ever collaboration with New Hampshire Humanities to bring a Smithsonian exhibit to our communities.
Program Highlights
Gather, the first YA novel by Vermont author Kenneth M. Cadow, became the most-popular book (by far!) in the 23-year history of our one-book statewide reading program. Ken visited over 20 different communities during the course of the program to read from and discuss his book.
We distributed nearly 9500 copies of his book, and 102 different communities around Vermont created programming around Gather and its themes of rural life, resilience, class differences, addiction and recovery, housing and food insecurity, a deep relationship to the land, and the power of community. Altogether there were nearly 140 different Vermont Reads projects, including four in Correctional Facilities; the previous high for Vermont Reads projects was 107 in 2022.
One of the most meaningful moments for me at Literacy Night was watching a student who is well-reflected in Gather’s main character interact with the author. The look in their eyes and the author’s eyes was so telling beyond words.
Margaret Gish
Sharon Academy teacher
Veterans Book Groups
We welcomed a new location to our Veterans Book Group program, which creates an opportunity for veterans to connect with each other, build relationships, read insightful materials, and share experiences. The Southeast Military Experience book group started meeting at the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro, joining groups in Lyndon and White River Junction.
Early Literacy Trainings
Through our Never Too Early program, we provided 12 professional development trainings for early educators across the state, equipping them with strategies to foster early literacy, creativity, and social-emotional learning in young children. We offered both Level I and Level II trainings in two or three sessions for a total of 27 sessions. Our trainings continue to be the only ones in the state that provide educators with carefully curated collections of diverse picture books, ensuring they can immediately implement their learning with high-quality resources.
We worked closely with 21 different libraries across Vermont in our Vermont Early Literacy Initiative, which empowers librarians to develop and provide programs that engage young children and support families and caregivers. These opportunities help libraries become essential community centers for family learning. We led virtual cohort meetings twice a month, met one-on-one with individual librarians, and hosted two in-person, day-long conferences at Lake Morey in Fairlee.
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.
In the fifth year of this innovative program, an average of 30 people came to five different events to listen to poets such as Major Jackson (pictured), Verandah Porche, and Alison Prine in state parks across Vermont, including Coolidge State Park, Molly Stark State Park, and Mount Philo State Park.
50 Forward – Fall Festival 2024
For our 50th anniversary year, our Fall Festival weighed the many challenges facing our communities and highlighted moments of celebration as we move forward into a critical time period to create a more welcoming and resilient Vermont.
Events included “International Voices: Music & Poetry from Around the World” at the Manchester Community Library (pictured); the “Imagine: New Play & Performance Fest” at Off Center for the Dramatic Arts in Burlington; and “Simple Astonishment: A Community Conversation on a Changing Climate” at the Henry Sheldon Museum in Middlebury.
It is a tall order for a 140 year old institution to all of a sudden wake up and engage with the questions, conversations and issues around us. And on Wednesday evening, we did just that! I feel so inspired to continue this work and to harness the power of the humanities to reimagine a history museum as a place that can feel germane in today’s world.
Coco Moseley
Executive Director, Henry Sheldon Museum, host of Fall Festival event
Humanities Camps
With funding support from Vermont Humanities, educators around the state develop immersive, collaborative, project-based Humanities Camps that directly meet the needs of young people in their communities.
The camps aim to center student interests, empower their voices, and offer non-traditional ways to engage with the humanities as a broad and always-expanding discipline.
We sponsored 17 different camps in 2024, a recent high. These included camps at schools, libraries, and at nonprofits such as Get Thee to the Funnery and the Old Stone House Museum. Themes included “Our Relationship with the Natural World,” “Jazz in the Living Room,” and “Food for Thought.”
The Vermont Book Awards honored literature by Vermont authors published in 2023, and brought the community together to celebrate the profound impact literature has on individuals and communities. The top prizes went to Vievee Francis (poetry), Dan Nott (children’s literature), Sandra Simonds (fiction), and Mary Ruefle (creative nonfiction).
The winners received $1000 each and art objects commissioned by Vermont artist Trevor Corp. Also in attendance at the awards ceremony in May was 2024 nominee Kenneth M. Cadow, author of the award-winning Gather, who launched his tenure as 2024 Vermont Reads author with a brief speech.
Museum on Main Street
For the first time, Vermont Humanities partnered with New Hampshire Humanities and the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program to bring a traveling exhibit to Vermont and New Hampshire.
The exhibitions through this program are designed to engage communities and become a catalyst for conversation about life in small-town America.
The first installation of “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” opened at the St. Albans Museum in August 2024; a large crowd enjoyed a panel discussion about change in their city over the past generation.
June 12, 2025
