On display in Carrier Library, February 2023.
A Book for the 'Burg is a community-wide reading program launched in 2013 to engage our community in conversations around a thought-provoking theme. Community members are encouraged to explore the selected reading and attend a number of related events and activities.
After a much longer pause than anticipated due to the pandemic, we are ready to invite the community to join our next conversation. In Spring 2023, our programs will be inspired by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which appears on numerous lists of notable books of the twentieth century. Program partners include The Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World, Edith J. Carrier Arboretum, JMU Libraries, and College of Visual and Performing Arts at James Madison University, Eastern Mennonite University, and Massanutten Regional Library.
Programs are free, open to the public, do not require participants to have read the selected book and include a birding activity, guest lecture, film screening, panel discussion, facilitated book discussions, and more. Additionally, each of the partner libraries will have relevant book displays. In honor of the sixtieth anniversary of publication of Silent Spring, the A Book for the 'Burg 2023 program explores the book, birdsong, and environmental awareness. Participants are challenged to reflect on the interconnectedness of all living things, consider how humans affect our planet, and take action to create a sustainable future.
