From “One Book” to “Beyond the Book”

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion is excited to announce the expansion of the One Book initiative with Beyond the Book: The Diversity Common Reading Program. Beyond the Book will be an academic year-long initiative focused on embracing diversity, equity and inclusion by exploring four themes at the campus-wide level:

  • Gender & Self-Identity
  • Diversity & Racial Equity
  • Global & Cultural Perspectives
  • Accessibility & Advocacy

The purpose of Beyond the Book is to expand the dialogues, learning and engagement around diversity, equity, and inclusion themed books to foster a greater sense of community all while celebrating difference. This program is designed to provide an enjoyable and positive reading experience both inside and outside of the classroom and to reinforce the message to move beyond book discussion groups to include students, faculty, staff, and the larger community in a wide range of social and intellectual activities.

With book selections from faculty, Beyond the Book: The Diversity Common Reading Committee (formerly the One Book Planning Committee) selects four books that advances diversity, equity and inclusion. Selected books will be made available, free of charge, to all interested LCC students, staff and faculty using the books for classes. The committee invites the campus community to participate in Beyond the Book activities including films, author’s lectures, writing and art contests reflecting the reading.

Program Goals

  • To provide a common experience for first year students to ease the transition into the academic community of the College
  • To build an intellectual community among returning students, faculty and staff
  • To help students make connections between classroom and out-of-classroom experiences
  • To engage students in discussions surrounding current societal issues in diversity, equity, and inclusion

Why a Common Reading Program?

Each school year, students everywhere are embarking on a unique journey. At LCC, we strive to alleviate some of the concerns shared by numerous first-year students by joining them in a common experience.

Putting the community back into community college, this program draws students, faculty and staff together in a more intimate common experience even and encouraging our LCC community members to transfer this experience to the journey of lifelong learning and society transformation.

Benefits of a Common Reading Program

  • It’s a unique opportunity to capture the first-year student prior to their entering the classroom.
  • It offers the chance to develop a sense of community, connectedness to the college, and cultivate an enlightened student.
  • There is a cross-curricular integration of skill building activities
  • The diverse book selections, classroom instruction, guest speakers, community service and social activities based on the content of each book will allow the readers, especially students to come away with a sense of unity and commitment to their studies, peers and community.

We look forward to you joining us in going Beyond the Book!