Riverside County Libraries Participate in California Reads: Searching for Democracy

Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, author of “Farewell to Manzanar” to speak at Highgrove Library May 10 and the Eastvale Library on May 11, 2012.
 
For the past several weeks and continuing through May and beyond, seven Riverside County Library System Libraries have been participating in a community reading project to encourage a discussion of several books that explore the topic of Democracy.  The books range from the classic American novel of political repression, It Can’t Happen Here  by Sinclair Lewis, to the personal memoir of life in the Japanese internment camps, Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Watatsuki Houston.  In the course of the many programs offered through this program, adults and young adults have met in discussion groups and other activities to discuss the books and the themes of what it means to live in a democracy, community, freedom of expression, and what it means to be American.
California Reads is a joint project of the Riverside County Library System and the California Council for the Humanities and the California Center for the Book with special grant funding from the California State Library.
In the course of the program, the four living writers among the five will have put in appearances at programs in the Riverside County Library System.  On Thursday, May 10, 4 p.m., Jeanne Wataksuki Houston will be at the Highgrove Library (530 W. Center Street, Highgrove, CA 92507) and on Friday, May 11 at the Eastvale Library (7447 Scholar Way, Eastvale, CA, 92880) to discuss her well-known memoir Farewell to Manzanar, the story of her family and their forced removal to an internment camp at Manzanar, California, during World War II.  Ms. Houston is known for her moving talks around this topic and the Riverside County Library System is particularly honored to have Ms. Houston present for this event.
In addition to Manzanar, the other books in this project are:

• Lost City Radio by Daniel Alarcón.  This novel tells the story of a group of people living through civil war and political repression in a fictional South American country much that bears a resemblance to the author’s native Peru.  This novel is being read at the Mecca Library.  Mr. Alarcón spoke at the Mecca Library on March 28.
•  A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit.  A non-fiction work exploring the author’s observations of how natural and man-made disasters cause the spontaneous creation of short- term communities of mutual support and how, unfortunately, those communities are often destroyed by official government responses that anticipate the worst possible outcomes, a phenomenon Solnit refers to as “institutional panic.”  This book is now being read at the El Cerrito Library.  Ms Solnit is expected to speak at an event in the fall.
• The Penguin Guide to the U.S. Constitution by Dr. Richard Beeman.  A guide to understanding the Constitution and its impact by a noted constitutional scholar and veteran of many media appearances.  This book is being read at the Perris Library and Dr. Beeman spoke at that  library on April 25.
• It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis.  Beloved American novelist Lewis creates a hypothetical world of 1936 in which an anti-Semitic, racist becomes president of the United States and embarks on a campaign of fascist terror.  This novel is being read at the Robidoux Library.  On May 19 at 1 p.m., Jacqueline Avila will present a musical lecture, “Protest Music of the 1930’s” discussing political and resistance music popular in the 1930s and throughout the 20th century.

For more information on this and other programs at the library, please consult the online calendar on the home page of this web site.