One Community, One Book Project The One Community, One Book project is a great way for students to make connections as soon as they arrive on campus. It's a common—or shared—reading experience in which students, faculty, staff, and community members will read the same book, then come together throughout the year to share insights about its content.

How it works
At the beginning of the fall 2008 semester, every first-year student will receive a free copy of Ishmael Beah's book, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. Throughout the academic year, the University will offer multiple opportunities for group discussion of the book, including an on-campus lecture by the author. The book will be discussed in many rhetoric courses.

Book distribution
Free copies of the book will be awaiting first-year students when they move into the residence halls in late August. First-year students not living in the residence halls will receive their free copy via the U.S. Postal Service.

About the book: A Long Way Gone
Beah's book, which was selected by a committee organized by the UI Center for Human Rights (UICHR) for the center's 2008 common reading project, recalls Beah's experiences as a teenager trying to survive the civil war in Sierra Leone in the early 1990s.

UICHR 2008 One Community, One Book Project
Publisher's Web Site: A Long Way Gone

Upcoming discussions
Mark your calendar to participate in one or more of these upcoming events:

• Author's lecture
  • 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 29; location to be determined. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
• Film screenings
  • War Dance, 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 1, at the Iowa City Public Library.
  • Ezra, 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15, at the Iowa City Public Library.
• On-campus discussion groups
  • 8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 14, in the Riverview Lounge of Hillcrest Residence Hall.
  • 8 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 21, in the Van Oel Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) of Currier Residence Hall.
  • 8 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22, in the 2nd Floor Study Lounge of the UI Main Library.
  • Additional discussions are still being scheduled. Check back for more details!
• Community discussion groups
  • Monday, September 15, in the 8th floor solarium of the John Colloton Pavilion at UI Hospitals & Clinics. Time to be announced.
  • 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 30, at the North Liberty Community Library.
  • 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 7, at Barnes & Noble in the Coral Ridge Mall.
  • 10 a.m., Saturday, Oct. 11, in Meeting Room A of the Iowa City Public Library.
  • 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15, at the Solon Public Library.
  • 11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 17, in Room 208 of the Iowa City Senior Center.