About The New York Reads Together Program

Read.
We want you to find reading fun and interesting.
We want you to go out and read other books when the program is done.
We want you to encourage your children and family to love reading, too.

Talk.
We want you to talk about it on your job.
We want you to talk about it with your children, parents and grandparents.
We want you to talk about it on the subway.

Share.
We want you to give your book to a community center, senior center, library or shelter.
We want you to express yourself creatively in poetry, dance, art, and music.
We want you to find someone different then yourself and share your thoughts.

This is about making New York Reads Together your experience.

New York Reads Together is a program of New York Women’s Agenda. It is a city-wide book discussion based on the reading of one book.

The concept of New York Reads Together is simple—get everyone reading one book, and then empower New York’s families, friends, neighbors, co-workers, schools, educators, intellectuals, book clubs, congregations, and community groups to hold discussions with one another and express their thoughts about the book and its subject matters.

New York Reads Together is based on the concept of Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl, who, in 1998, created a citywide book discussion program If All of Seattle Read the Same Book. Other cities such as Gainesville FL, Orlando FL, Palm Beach FL, Chicago IL, Buffalo NY, and Rochester NY, have joined in the literacy movement and created their own book discussion programs. In 2001, NYWA member Brenda Rezak brought the concept to New York Women’s Agenda, and from there the organization mobilized several of its member organizations, other New York institutions, and individuals to get involved.

As New York Women’s Agenda’s mission has always been to affect issues of importance to women and their families, an important component in the New York Reads Together program is involving our students in the program, so that young people, male and female, will learn to love reading, too. Studies show that children of parents who read are more likely to become avid readers. Intergenerational family literacy programs yield fewer high school dropouts, higher literacy rates, and successful independent adults. Studies also show that book discussions are a proven method to foster communication amongst people. New York Reads Together is a means of encouraging intergenerational and multicultural discussions amongst New Yorkers, making our city a stronger, closer community.

With a city as unique as New York, NYWA members decided that rather than create a rigid program, instead New York Reads Together would be a means of allowing New Yorkers and New York organizations to make the program their own.

After selecting a highly poignant book, a basic platform has been set, with an open ended study guide, an interactive website where the public can connect with one another to find information on how and where others are discussing the book, and a kick off date to get us all on the same page, so to speak.

New York Reads Together welcomes creativity, various means of expression, topical discussions, and different viewpoints. Reading, talking, and sharing is what New York Reads Together is all about.

About New York Women’s Agenda

New York Women’s Agenda (NYWA) is a nonprofit, non-partisan, tax-exempt coalition of New York City women’s organizations and individuals. NYWA is passionate about the obligation to speak out and influence policy and programs that affect the lives of women and families in New York City. NYWA’s mission is simple and powerful: to inform and educate the public and to advise policy makers about the impact of public policy decisions on the welfare of women and families; to increase women’s participation in public policy discussions on economic, political, and social issues; and to support member organizations in their individual policy efforts. NYWA’s members represent the diversity of the city and include community groups; religious, ethnic, and political groups; professional associations; and issues-based groups. Through NYWA, these groups unite to work on issues of common interest and to advocate for public policy. Together, the voices of NYWA members work in concert to become one rousing chorus, impossible to ignore. For further information on NYWA, including membership, visit the website at www.nywa.org.