Which One Book would you Recommend to Entering College Freshmen?
Over 95 colleges and universities in the U.S. have developed summer reading programs (SRP) for entering freshmen. At Louisiana State University a committee of faculty members and students from a variety of disciplines review books during the spring term, and one book is chosen for all 5,000 incoming freshmen. Each student is given a free copy of the book at the June orientation session to read during the summer, and in August the book’s author addresses the students at a general assembly. Following the lecture, students are divided into small discussion groups guided by volunteer faculty members. The book is used in a variety of ways during the fall term, and this year the SRP has been expanded to include the local citizenry in a program called the One Book One Community initiative.
This paper presents the results of a survey of all existing university summer reading programs in the U.S. to learn (1) which books have been chosen in the past (2) what the criteria was for the choices made, (3) the selection process, and (4) the organization of each program.
Keywords: Research focus
Dr. Charles Grenier
Faculty member, Professor Emeritus, Louisiana State University
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Ref: B06P0225