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We are a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, all donations are tax deductible (Tax ID: #94-2612557). Donate to OCR on line | Donate directly to support Our Community Reads. Donate on line | Donate to our chapter ~ Please direct your gift to Aptos Chapter of Friends of SCPL. Contact us | Participate, ask Q's, and/or volunteer at events. We want to hear from you! |
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Season 2021 of Our Community Reads highlighted the book,
The Great Believers. Even though, due to the current restrictions, our calendar of events was much reduced, and in virtual venues, we created a calendar of events that allowed participants to delve into many themes from this book. All events were free and open to the public. |
“A dazzling new novel of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris.” |
Click the book cover for more information.
Click here for a synopsis of the book.
Click here for the publisher's reader's guide and topics for discussion.
Click here for a synopsis of the book.
Click here for the publisher's reader's guide and topics for discussion.
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LIST OF EVENTS of the 2021 Season:
Our events aim to create a shared experience that will increase appreciation for our community libraries and for our local bookstores; foster pride in the varied experiences that our area offers; and the enrichment –– culturally, intellectually, and emotionally –– that comes from the joy of reading! JANUARY 2021 January 28 – Book Discussion Group ~ Sponsored by Friends of La Selva Beach Library The La Selva Beach "Passionate Readers" Book Discussion group leader Margie Bowles leads a thought-provoking group discussion of The Great Believers allowing participants to delve into the book's themes. Thursday, Jan 28 at 10:30 a.m. FEBRUARY 2021 February 1 – Panel Discussion: HIV/AIDS in the 80's: Firsthand Accounts of the Santa Cruz Scene ~ Sponsored by the Friends of the Capitola Library California State Senator John Laird leads a panel discussion with people who were living in Santa Cruz as the epidemic was exploding. No effective treatments were yet available, and misinformation was rampant. Audience Q & A will follow. Sponsored by the Friends of the Capitola Library. Monday, Feb 1 at 7 p.m. Watch a recording of this event. February 3 - Capitola Branch Library Book Group Discussion of The Great Believers Lorena Lopez of the Capitola Branch Library will lead the group's discussion of the various themes in The Great Believers. Wednesday, Feb 3rd at 10 a.m. February 7 – Speaker Series: HIV/AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Pandemic Professor of History & Legal Studies and Interim Associate Dean in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at CSUMB, David A. Reichard describes the history of grassroots HIV/AIDS activism-especially in the 1980s and 1990s-and how it illustrates the ways marginalized groups advocating for changes in healthcare access, policy, and resources can shape the course of a pandemic. Audience Q & A will follow. Sunday, Feb 7 at 5 p.m. Watch a recording of this event. February 11 - Aptos Library Book Group Discussion of The Great Believers Led by long-time Aptos Library volunteer Judy McNeely, the Aptos book discussion group will examine the various interesting threads and themes in this season's OCR book selection. Thursday, Feb 11 at 1 p.m. February 13 – Cut-Paper Art Workshop ~ Sponsored by Felton Library Friends April Zilber of the Felton Library Friends leads us in a hands-on art project. April is a professional glass artist and has taught glass art and paper marbling classes. Please have colored paper (look in your recycling bin), pencil, scissors, and glue stick or tape. This is a chance to be creative, a small gesture of art in respect to The Great Believers. Saturday, Feb 13 at 4 p.m. February 19 – Trivia Night Come show off your knowledge of The Great Believers. Supervisor Zach Friend will once again emcee this fun event. Come (virtually) with your friends, book group, or even solo to show off your knowledge of The Great Believers. We supply the questions, but this year you'll have to supply your own cocktails and snacks! Prizes will be awarded to the winners! Friday, Feb 19 at 6 p.m. February 21 – Speaker Series: MEMORIES: My Brother, a Quilt, and the AIDS Project Join us for this moving conversation with Dinah Davis, a local resident who lost her brother to HIV/AIDS. She tells how the illness affected her family at a time when many members of the LGBTQ community remained closeted. The event, led by life coach Kris Franceschi, includes a short documentary on the San Francisco gay scene of the 1980s, narrated by Cleve Jones, who conceived the AIDS Memorial Quilt to which Dinah contributed. Sunday, Feb 21 at 5 p.m. Watch a recording of this event. February 24 – The Great Believers Book Discussion ~ Sponsored by Felton Library Friends Santa Cruz Public Library Book Discussion Group. April Zilber of the Reading in the Redwoods book group of the Felton Library Friends will lead this month's group discussion of The Great Believers. Wednesday, Feb 24 at 6 p.m. MARCH 2021 March 4 – Pandemics, Politics and Public Health ~ Sponsored by Friends of La Selva Beach Library Dr. Ronald P. Hattis, MD, MPH, Associate Clinical Professor of Preventive Medicine, Loma Linda University School of Medicine, and Past President and current Secretary of the Beyond AIDS Foundation. In this interactive talk, Dr. Hattis will discuss his history, beginning in the early '80s, in the fight against HIV/AIDS, which he calls a "slow-moving pandemic." He ties that struggle to our current fight with a much faster-moving pandemic, COVID-19. Dr. Hattis will be joined in this discussion by Dr. K. J. Phelan, a pediatrician with The Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in San Rafael, CA. Thursday, March 4 at 7 p.m. Watch a recording of this event. |
To review our 2020 season click here To review our 2019 season click here To review our 2018 season click here Other sites that may interest you:
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Here are just a few comments from participants in prior seasons:
The following four books were the finalists for the 2021 season:
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Our Community Reads
"It is so important to support literacy and critical thinking, especially in these current times. Thank you all for your hard, important work." Jerry Solomon, Ph.D., Panelist, HIV/AIDS in the 80's "This was a great series of events that really showed how reading is not a static, solitary thing but a rich, engaging, exploration that opens eyes and minds and ears. The dialogue and discussion were the best part." Stephen Palumbi, Co-author, Death & Life of Monterey Bay. "I am honored to have been a part of the Our Communities Read program! What a fantastic model, to use books to bring people together and take meaningful action. In the case of our book, action towards the collective goal of protecting the places we love." Carolyn Sotka, Co-author, Death & Life of Monterey Bay. |
- Deluxe Foods will donate 5% of sale to Friends of Aptos Library. All you have to do is mention the Aptos Friends to the cashier and they will take care of the rest. Click here ~ and ~ here for news article.
- January through March 2021 – A series of special events related to themes in the book.
- Contact us by e-mail at friendsoftheaptoslibrary@fscpl.org
We are a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, all donations are tax deductible (Tax ID: #94-2612557).
Donate to OCR on line | Donate directly to support Our Community Reads