Common Reading Programs
Many universities and colleges have incorporated “common readings” into first year
experience programs. Typically a book is selected by a campus committee and introduced
during summer orientation activities. Institutions provide incoming freshman with a copy
of the selected book. Students are expected to read the book over the summer and
participate in discussion groups and other activities during the fall and/or spring
semesters. Two longstanding programs include the University of North Carolina-Chapel
Hill (http://www.unc.edu/srp/) and Appalachian State University
(http://www1.appstate.edu/dept/gstudies/srp/index.htm). The University of TexasSanAntonio (http://www.utsa.edu/lc/index.htm) has incorporated a common reading into
learning community activities. The UT program utilizes the book during the fall semester
rather than having a summer reading program.
Other universities, such as Indiana University – South Bend, have implemented “One
Book, One Campus” programs (http://www.iusb.edu/~libg/onebook/). All faculty, staff,
and students are encouraged to read a common book and participate in related activities.
Universities, large and small, have successfully implemented programs. Cornell
University’s program has expanded to include high school students and alumni.
Read and listen to remarks by Carolyn (Biddy) Martin, Cornell University Provost.
http://reading.cornell.edu/welcome.html
The National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition
(http://www.sc.edu/fye/resources/fyr/index.html) contains extensive information related
to summer reading programs.
The site includes a searchable database of institutions with summer reading programs as
well as an extensive book list. Most entries include contact information.
The following list includes books that have been used by colleges and universities within
the past few years. Where available, links are provided to institutions that have used the
book.
A Hope in the Unseen by Ronald Suskind
About the book and discussion questions:
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides/hope_in_the_unseen.asp
Appalachian State University – 2004 Common Reading
http://www1.appstate.edu/dept/gstudies/srp/previous.htm
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
About the book and discussion questions:
http://www.henryholt.com/holt/nickelanddimed.htm
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania – 2005 Common Reading
http://academics.sru.edu/fyrst/read/
Ohio University – 2004 Common Reading
http://www.ohio.edu/outlook/04-05/33f-045.cfm
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
About the book and discussion questions:
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780767902892
Clemson University – 2004 Common Reading
http://stuaff.clemson.edu/summer/assignment.php
http://stuaff.clemson.edu/summer/discussion.php
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo – 2002 Common Reading
http://preface.calpoly.edu/2002/index.html
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
About the book and discussion questions:
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/kite_runner.html
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo – 2005 Common Reading
http://www.preface.calpoly.edu/
Michigan State University “One Book, One Community” – 2005 Common Reading
http://www.onebook.msu.edu/
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
About the book and discussion questions:
http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/fast_food_nation1.asp
State University of New York-Oswego – 2003 Common Reading
http://www.oswego.edu/academics/opportunities/oswego_reading_initiative/past_selectio
ns/fast_food_nation/index.html
Bentley College – 2004 Common Reading
http://www.bentley.edu/extranet/class_book/class_of_2008/Class_of_2008.cfm
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
About the book and discussion questions:
http://www.spiritcatchesyou.com/
University of Alabama at Birmingham – 2005 Common Reading
http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=82528
Night by Elie Wiesel
About the book and discussion questions:
http://www.bordersstores.com/features/feature.jsp?file=night_rg
Texas State University – 2004 Common Reading
http://www.reslife.txstate.edu/commonexperience/layout.htm
The Pact by Sam Davis, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt
About the book and discussion questions:
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/rguides/us/pact.html
University of Texas at San Antonio – 2005 Common Reading
http://www.utsa.edu/lc/reading/index.htm
Napoleon's Buttons: 17 Molecules That Changed History by Penny Le Couteur &
Jay Burreson
About the book:
http://www.americanscientist.org/template/BookReviewTypeDetail/assetid/21980
Saint Louis University – 2005 Common Reading
http://www.slu.edu/admissions/first_year_experience_freshman_summer_reading.html
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James
McBride
About the book:
http://www.jamesmcbride.com/color.htm
Kent State University – 2005 Common Reading
http://explore.kent.edu/fye/reading.html
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
About the book and discussion questions:
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375506161
Rutgers College Honors Program
http://rchonors.rutgers.edu/sumread.htm
Louisiana State University – 2005 Common Reading
http://appl003.lsu.edu/srp/srp.nsf/index/
West of Kabul, East of New York by Tamim Ansary
About the book:
http://www.mirtamimansary.com/writing/index.php?cat=1
Tulane University Reading Project – 2003 Common Reading
http://reading.tulane.edu/2003/
Other Resources
Barbara Fister, a librarian at Gustavus Aldolphus College in St. Paul Minnesota, has
compiled a list of colleges and universities with summer reading programs.
One Book, One College: Common Reading Programs
http://homepages.gac.edu/~fister/onebook.html
The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress maintains a list of “One Book”
Reading Promotion programs in the United States.
http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/one-book.html
Reading Like a College Student: http://smu.edu/alec/readinglike.html
This guide was prepared by Patricia Feldman and Ann Shattles who are affiliated with
Southern Methodist University’s Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center (A-LEC).
Compiled by Andrea L. Dinkelman, Science & Technology Librarian
2/16/06