Join the conversation and sign up for a discussion group!

DISCUSSION GROUP SCHEDULE: SIGN UP AND BE A PART OF THE CONVERSATION

Sponsor/Location	Date	Time	Registration Link
Temple Ahavat Achim	Sun. July 28	10am-12pm	Register
1623 Studios	Mon. July 29	1-3pm	Register
Annisquam Village Church	Tues. July 30	4-6pm	Register
St. Paul Lutheran Church	Tues. July 30	7-9pm	Register
Manship Artist Residencies@ Lanesville Community Center	Tues. August 6	7-9pm	Register
St. John’s Episcopal Church	Thurs. August 8	3-5pm	Register
Gloucester Writers Center	Mon. August 12	6-8pm	Register
Gloucester UU Church	Thurs. August 22	5-7pm	Register

Together in partnership, the Sawyer Free Library, Gloucester’s Racial Justice Team and Gloucester Health Department, is presenting Gloucester Reads 2024, a citywide, intergenerational summer reading initiative. Running through August, this community-wide book club aims to spark conversations, inspire new ideas, and encourage introspection about race equity in our community.

In collaboration with sixteen additional community co-sponsors, Gloucester Reads 2024 will explore books reflecting Black experiences in America. This initiative includes selections for adults, young adults and children. Adults can participate in three ways: reading the book, joining a structured discussion group, and attending the virtual author’s talk.

The summer book club’s main selection is How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith. This acclaimed book, which has won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism, the Stowe Prize, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, focuses on the history and present impact of slavery in the United States. Through eight sites, including New Orleans, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, New York City, and Angola Prison, Smith uses archival research and interviews to offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has shaped our nation’s history and memory.

For more information or to sign up for a book discussion, visit, SawyerFreeLibrary.org or call 978-325-5500.

To ensure everyone can participate, Gloucester Reads is offering to cover childcare expenses for those attending discussion groups, the author’s talk, or both. Participants can request funds on the discussion group registration form.