Book nominations sought for Go Big Read program

The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s common book program, Go Big Read, is engaging students, faculty, staff and the community in a shared academic experience as they read and discuss “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot.

Planning is already under way for next year’s Go Big Read, and nominations are now being accepted for the book selection. All genres may be nominated, from fiction and nonfiction to biography, science and science fiction. “Our goal is to introduce diversity and variety to our selections over time,” says Ken Frazier, director of UW–Madison Libraries and member of the Go Big Read steering committee.

Nominated books should do one or more of the following:

• promote enjoyment of reading by being readable, relevant and engaging;
• incorporate sufficient depth and scope to promote sustained discussion of different points of view;
• appeal to individuals from a variety of backgrounds; and
• have cross-disciplinary flexibility that can tie into a variety of campus activities and programming.

The nomination deadline is midnight on Thursday, Jan. 6. The review committee will sift and winnow through all the submissions to create a short list of book titles for the chancellor to consider.

To submit a title and to see the list of nominated books, visit http://www.gobigread.wisc.edu. Books may be nominated more than once.