'GO READ' picks another book
Phil Wilayto/Richmond Free Press
July 10-12, 2003

What if everyone in the Richmond area were to read the same thought-provoking book and then discuss it together?

Would that bring us more together as a community?

That’s the idea behind GO READ, a three-year, cooperative venture of local libraries, corporations, nonprofit groups and individuals.

Modeled after a similar program in Seattle, GO READ began last year with an estimated 30,000 people reading “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. Gaines.

This year, the selection is “The Things They Carried,” a Pulitzer Prize-nominated collection of stories by Tim O’Brien.

Set in the late 1960s, the book describes the day-to-day struggle of a group of young U.S. soldiers trying to survive the Vietnam War. It’s an experience Mr. O’Brien absorbed first hand during his own tour of duty in Vietnam as an Army infantryman.

Reading books is not a given in Richmond, where, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, one out of every four adults aged 25 and over hasn’t finished high school. But promoting reading is like encouraging any other activity — it has to become visible.

Participants in the GO READ program are encouraged to form reading groups with family members, friends, co-workers or neighbors and post their comments on the GO READ Web site’s bulletin board.

To help, local libraries and bookstores have stocked up on “The Things They Carried” and are organizing book discussion sessions. Specially designed “toolkits” to help facilitate discussions are posted on the Web site and will soon be available at local libraries.

This year’s program will culminate Nov. 13 with a visit to Richmond by Mr. O’Brien. The former national affairs reporter for The Washington Post is scheduled to read from his book at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Downtown. That event, followed by a reception with the author, will be free and open to the public.

For information about the book, Mr. O’Brien and GO READ programs, visit the Web site www.goreadrichmond.com or call 646-0290.

©Richmond Free Press, July 10-12, 2003, Page A4. Used by permission of the Richmond Free Press.