Augusta-Richmond County Public Library has been selected as one of 100 libraries nationwide to take part in the Great Stories Club, a reading and discussion program for underserved teens. This competitive grant is offered by the American Library Association (ALA) with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
 
Gatherings at the Headquarters Branch of ARCPLS (823 Telfair St., Augusta) will begin on Monday, January 28, at 5 pm. Interested teens in grades 9 through 12 may register for this program by calling 706-434-2036. Augusta-Richmond County Public Library will give 11 free copies of each of the four Great Stories Club books to participants as part of the grant.

 The four books — curated for the theme “What Makes a Hero? Self, Society and Rising to the Occasion” — will include “Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 1” by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Brian Stelfreeze;  “Binti” by Nnedi Okorafor; “Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two” by Joseph Bruchac; and “What Can(t) Wait” by Ashley Hope Pérez.
 
The titles were selected in consultation with humanities scholars and librarians to inspire teens — especially those facing difficult circumstances or challenges — to consider "big questions" about the world around them and their place in it, ultimately affecting how they view themselves as thinkers and creators.
 
Library staff received resources and training, including travel and accommodations for an orientation workshop in Chicago. The workshops included dialogue facilitation training led by consultants to Everyday Democracy and program modeling led by national project scholars Maria Sachiko Cecire (Bard College) and Anna Mae Duane (University of Connecticut).