Join the community conversation about combating racism with Big Read project and talk

As the Dayton area, along with the rest of the nation, confronts issues of inequality and racism, Dayton Metro Library offers a special community-wide "Big Read" of the book "Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World and Become a Good Ancestor" by Layla Saad. 

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“This special version of The Big Read encourages all of us to focus on one topic, one book, together,” says Tim Kambitsch, Dayton Metro Library’s executive director, in a press statement. “This highly regarded title offers a self-guided journey that invites readers to explore their own thoughts, and perhaps empower them to have a few uncomfortable self-conversations, and then engage meaningfully with others.”

The library has acquired an unlimited simultaneous user license so that there are no limits on how many people can borrow the eBook and Audiobook formats through OverDrive at DaytonMetroLibrary.org through July 31.

PANEL DISCUSSION

The Dayton Metro Library and the Dayton Daily News will host a panel discussion, live-streamed on Facebook, on Wednesday, July 8, from 5 to 6 p.m. The discussion will be moderated by the newspaper's Community Impact Editor Amelia Robinson.

“This will surely be an important conversation for our community as we all work to push Dayton forward,” Robinson said.

Other panelists are: Debbie Feldman (president and CEO, Dayton Children’s Hospital), Shannon Isom (president and CEO, YWCA Dayton), Kevin M. Kelly (executive director, Dayton International Peace Museum) and Brian O. Martin (executive director, Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission).

Questions for the panelists to consider should be submitted to the Facebook event page or via a form linked to on www.bigread.org.

“We have no doubt that hearing from these respected community leaders will help all of us better understand racism locally, and feel more knowledgeable and confident discussing ways we can move our community forward as a result,” said Kambitsch.

Suggested activities in addition to the Panel Discussion are also available on BigRead.org.

MORE INFO: Facebook event

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