#24 / Community Reads

The "Silicon Valley Reads" program is going into its tenth year. Leadership has been provided by the City of San Jose, the Santa Clara County Office of Education, and the Santa Clara County Library. The program has a long list of "community partners," and many institutional sponsors. This year, the theme is "Muslim and American."

I like the idea of what amounts to a community "book group." To make manifest the reality of our human situation - that we are not just a collection of "individuals," but that we are all bound together in "community" (various communities, in fact) - we need to engage in community activities and exercises. Such common activities can help reveal us to ourselves, and to make clear that we are not alone.

Genuine democracy relies on "democratic conversation." What better way to engender such conversation? Let's all read a book and talk about it!