The Maine State Library offers ?Let?s Talk About It? Book Group

Augusta - The Maine State Library has been selected by the Maine Humanities Council to offer ?Let?s Talk About It?, a free reading and discussion group with copies of books available through the library. This program is provided by the Maine Humanities Council?s Maine Center for the Book in cooperation with the Maine State Library.

The series Modern Times in Maine and America, 1890-1930, begins Tuesday, July 7th at 1:00 p.m. at the Maine State Library in Augusta and continues for a total of 5 sessions, through August 4th.

Books to be read and discussed in this series include: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair; Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis and As The Earth Turns by Gladys Hasty Carroll. A scholar provided by the Maine Humanities Council will facilitate the discussions.

Date Book Title Author
July 7 Modern Times Video
July 14 The Jungle Upton Sinclair
July 21HerlandCharlotte Perkins Gilman
July 28BabbittSinclair Lewis
Aug 4As The Earth Turns Gladys Hasty Carroll

Each Tuesday session will meet at 1:00 p.m. at the Maine State Library Studio on the third floor for approximately 90 minutes.

?Exploring ideas and issues through literature has a unique and fun way of creating community,? said Nicole Rancourt, director of Let?s Talk About It. ?We find that there is great interest among adults in getting together to discuss what they?ve read with others. Having a discussion leader like Lisa Botshon who is both excited about the readings and skilled in facilitating can help to deepen this experience.? Lisa is the Coordinator of the Humanities Department and a Professor of English at the University of Maine at Augusta.

Books for the program are available for loan at the Maine State Library. Please call the library at (207) 287-5631 by Wednesday, July 1st to register by phone or email alison.l.maxell@maine.gov. Please provide us with your complete contact information including name, address, telephone and email. After you have registered, come in (as soon as you can!) to pick up your personal book bag containing all four books in the series. Registration limited to 25 so sign up early! For library hours and directions visit the website at: www.maine.gov/msl/about/hrsdirect.shtml

This program is offered to Maine libraries through the Maine Humanities Council in partnership with the Maine State Library.

For more information about the ?Let?s Talk About It? Book Groups and the work of the Maine Humanities Council, see www.mainehumanities.org or call the office in Portland at (207) 773-5051.