Community Read keeps noses in books

KESHENA — The Menominee Public Library has chosen its latest selection for its Community Read program, now in its ninth year of existence.

The novel “There There” by Tommy Orange, a national bestseller publishing through Penguin Random House, will be the latest book folks on the Menominee Reservation will be buzzing about this fall. The library held its kickoff event Wednesday with people picking up the book, enjoying some lunch, watching performers at an open mic just outside the library and later, making earrings with birch bark.

The kickoff is one of several events the library will hold over the next month to promote reading in the community, culminating with a visit from Orange himself on Sept. 24. The event will be held at the cultural learning center at the College of Menominee Nation, N172 State Highway 47-55, Keshena, with doors opening at 5 p.m. for a presentation at 6 p.m. and a book signing and question-and-answer period to follow.

Other events include a pow wow sweat on Sept. 4, a presentation on Alcatraz on Sept. 9 and a book buzz on “There There” on Sept. 17. A book buzz is an opportunity for members of the public to get together to discuss a book.

All three events begin at noon and will take place in the upper floor classroom for the library, which is also the S. Verna Fowler Academic Library for CMN.

Orange’s novel followed a dozen characters representing a number of Native American communities as they travel to the Big Oakland Powwow. There are characters like Jacquie Red Feather, who has recently become sober and is traveling back to the family she left behind; Dene Oxendene, who is going to the powwow to work in memory of his late uncle; and Orvil, a 14-year-old who will be performing traditional dance for the very first time.

“There There” has received the PEN/Hemingway Award, the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It has received acclaim as one of the best books of the year for 2018 from the New York Times, the Washington Post, National Public Radio, Time magazine, Entertainment Weekly and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others.

Maria Escalante, library director, said she selected the book for the Community Read fall slot because she thought it would resonate with members of the Menominee and other tribes, as the book deals with the plight of urban Native Americans as they deal with their tribes’ complex histories and cultures.

“It’s something that many of our people can relate to,” Escalante said.

The Community Read program was started in 2011, with the library presenting two books each year, one in the fall and one in the winter, according to Escalante. The program had been funded through grants in the beginning, but now it is sustained through a partnership between CMN, the tribe and Menominee County.

“We all have something we can contribute financially, and that’s how we keep it going,” Escalante said. “I’m never sure how long these partnerships last, but so far, it’s going good.”

Escalante noted that the program started by accident. She said that the library had invited an author who had written a book on Jim Thorpe to speak, and that went over very well with folks on the reservation. Then the library was able to get a Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and it selected a book for the community to read and discuss but did not host an author presentation.

“We were just getting people to read, and then we thought it would be really nice to have the author, and we didn’t expect them to come, but actually, they were happy to come to stuff like this,” Escalante said. “It hasn’t been that difficult.”

Escalante said she tries to alternate the books so that some of the selected choices are written by Native Americans and some are written by non-natives.

“We just had Jamie Ford, and he’s not a Native author,” Escalante said. “His background was Chinese.”

Throughout the years, the library has featured books by writers like Hattie Kauffman, a Native American journalist; Jessica Jackley, an author and entrepreneur; Jeanette Walls, who wrote “The Glass Castle”; Sherman Alexie, who wrote “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian;” and Robert Morgan, past winner for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award.

“Some of them are bigger names, and some of them are people you’ve never heard of,” Escalante said.

The program has remained successful through the years. Escalante usually purchases 200 books for each Community Read, and rarely has there been any books left by the time each campaign ended.

“People like to read,” Escalante said. “A lot of book clubs come and get their books, and they’re happy because they don’t have to pay for it. It’s free.”

She added that many times, community members will say they appreciate the program, as some of the books are ones they ordinarily wouldn’t have looked at were it not for the library spotlighting them.

“You never know how people are going to react, but for the most part, we’ll get books that appeal to a wide audience,” Escalante said.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com