Salem Reads - 2017
Spare Parts by Joshua Davis was selected as the inaugural book for Salem Reads. Macmillan Publishers describe Spare Parts as the true story of four Latino teenagers who arrive at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Robotics Competition at the University of California, Santa Barbara. They were born in Mexico but raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where they attended an underfunded public high school. No one had ever suggested to Oscar, Cristian, Luis, or Lorenzo that they might amount to much, but two inspiring science teachers had convinced these impoverished, undocumented kids from the desert who had never even seen the ocean that they should try to build an underwater robot.
The Salem Reads Program was warmly embraced by the citizens of Salem. Its success was made possible by hard working volunteers, as well as our generous partners and sponsors: The Salem Public Library, Oregon Public Library Innovation Fund of the Oregon Community Foundations, The Salem Library Advisory Board, and Salem Foundation, Capitol Toyota, Robert Welle, CFP of Ameriprise Financial, Roth’s Fresh Markets, and Salem Weekly. In response to our first Salem Reads program, patrons shared their praise for the program, stating: "I loved the book selection and I love the idea of the whole community reading the same book. I bought three copies of this book for Christmas presents, and I had my 8th grade Language Arts students read two chapters and write about it.” "I thought the book and the topic itself were great--well chosen, very thought provoking, good for younger readers, provided good grist for conversation." "Bringing in the author was a very special event. I'm so glad that I didn't miss it." "My whole family loved the Salem Reads experience. Thanks for making Salem great!" |
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The Salem Public Library Foundation sees Salem Reads as an opportunity to increase the Library’s visibility, and act as a catalyst to bring the community together around shared values. The committee selected Spare Parts because the book has many dimensions that will lend themselves to broad community engagement. These include education, immigration, undocumented young people, robotics, education best practices and equal opportunity for young people in general. Our program is distinctive from other similar programs in Oregon in that we are targeting the participation of young people in our high schools and colleges with the goal of having a rich multi-generational experience for everyone who participates. We hope choosing Spare Parts would be a unifying element in our community which is currently 25% Latino. We felt it was particularly important to engage the entire community in conversations about issues of equal opportunity, equity, education and legal status.
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The 2017 program included over 3,200 participants in more than two dozen events centered around the themes of Spare Parts. Program highlights included: Five hundred free books given to library patrons, the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project bringing Oregonians together to talk about important issues and ideas, over 1000 visitors to the Library's Robotics Expo, thirty plus private book clubs reading/discussing the book, and a visit from Spare Parts Author Joshua Davis. Also part of the program was a Spare Parts Art Exhibit, in which Salem artists displayed their artistic interpretations of the chosen book. Eric Wuest's "The Space Between" is now part of the Salem Public Library Foundation's art collection. |