AMESBURY — Thanks to a grant from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Amesbury Public Library has launched a new initiative for spring. On the Same Page is a one-book/one-community reading event with the goal of having many people in the community reading and talking about the same book at the same time.
Amesbury Public Library's On the Same Page project will examine the topic of the Underground Railroad, the informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada.
The featured reading selection is "Redfield Farm" by Judith Redline Coopey, a novel of the Underground Railroad. Several traditional book discussion groups will take place, both at the library and other community locations, as well as online, and Coopey will also visit the library on May 17 for a reading and reception. More than 50 gift copies of the main reading selection will be left in public places for citizens to discover, in order to engage residents who may not frequent the library.
In addition to the reading component, the library will partner with several other community organizations to offer a host of related programs and special events through June. These include guest lecturers, a walking tour of important abolitionist sites in town and a Harriet Tubman performance during Amesbury Days, among others. More about the schedule can be found on the library website at www.amesburylibrary.org. Partners in the series include the Amesbury Council on Aging, Amesbury Youth Services, the John Greenleaf Whittier Home and Museum, Bertram & Oliver's Bookshop and the Amesbury Public Schools.
For more information, contact library director Patty DiTullio at 978-388-8148, ext. 612, or at pditullio@mvlc.org.
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