Empowering Teens through Critical Reading and Discussion

Abstract

Are we "Deeper than Our Skins"? In fall 2019, University of Pittsburgh, USA academic librarians Robin Kear and Tyrica Terry Kapral received a grant and books through the American Library Association Great Stories Club program to find out. The Great Stories Club series on Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation is a book club for teens to read and discuss stories that explore race, equity, identity, history, institutional change and social justice. We partnered with the public Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh - Homewood to bring this program to African American teens in the City of Pittsburgh, USA. The theme for the book club was"Deeper than Our Skins: The Present Is a Conversation with the Past." Throughout the Great Stories Club, the readings and activities encouraged students to view identity as an individual and social project that is constructed (rather than naturally occurring), contextualized (in space and time), and changing (rather than static). Additionally, we spoke to the interrelatedness of the past and the present, the self and the other. Using compelling photos and impactful participant quotes of personal growth, this poster will inspire librarians to engage their own communities with book groups that explore race, identity, and social justice.