WEBER READS: WATER
Weber Reads is a coalition of people from the Weber County Library, the Wasatch Range Writing Project, and Weber and Ogden School Systems. Following the One Community One Book initiative authored by the Library of Congress, the Weber Reads coalition selects a topic, an author, or a book every year and encourages people to learn, read, and discuss the ideas encountered. In the program’s thirteen years, a range of titles and themes have been explored, including Frankenstein, The Odyssey, Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare, the Japanese-American Internment, the Transcontinental Railroad, and fire. Program information is available on our Event Calendar and in each building.
Recommended Adult
LESSON PLANS
in PDF format:
Recommended Children
2019-2020 BOOK SELECTION
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
from Sea-Fever by John Masefield
This year, we have chosen water as our topic. Every day, we expect, and get, clean water to fulfill our daily needs. But in many parts of the world, water is not clean or abundant. We know that people struggle every day to find even dirty water, and that others live where their lives are threatened by too much water.
Heraclitus said, “You cannot step into the same river twice, for other waters are continually flowing on.” Water’s power to change and to transform is like no other force on the planet.
Water is the subject of argument, speculation, and legislation. As we come to understand more about our climate and how it is changing, we also see how the water cycle is connected with climate, and how water’s availability and quality have always affected how people live.
We invite you to join us in our investigation and celebration of water with this collection of books, carefully selected to match interest and reading ability for your students. Lesson plans, developed by educators who comprise the Wasatch Range Writing Project group, are also included for your use. In these lessons, we play with water, perform experiments, learn about water in other cultures, explore poetry, discuss the story of the Colorado River, and learn amazing facts. For example, did you know that in your lifetime, you will drink the equivalent of a backyard swimming pool full of water?
Other resources are available at all Weber County Libraries, which have a wide selection of books and other materials about water. Library staff will host lectures, panel discussions, children’s activities, and other events, to which all members of the community are invited.
We look forward to working with you during the 2019-2020 Weber Reads season.
