5 Towns, 1 Book: Sound Shore Libraries Join Forces For Book Club

Westchester County, NY — Five Sound Shore towns in Westchester are joining together to read a single book this month. A virtual discussion of the book will include library cardholders from New Rochelle, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Harrison and Rye during five book-club-style events.

This month, the multi-town book club will explore Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. The highlight of the events will be Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson joining the discussions live on April 25, at 4 p.m.

The talk featuring Wilkerson will be one of five conversations about various themes for the Oprah Book Club selection. Each virtual talk will focus on one specific chapter from the critically acclaimed book.

A New York Times #1 Best Seller, Caste was first published in August 2020. The book explores the undefined caste system that has shaped the world we live in and explores how these hierarchies continue to define us.

Isabel Wilkerson won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994. She was the first ever African American to win a Pulitzer for individual reporting. She is also a winner of the National Humanities Medal. Oprah Winfrey chose Caste as her summer/fall book club selection for 2020.

The four other book club nights, not featuring Wikerson, will take place on April 8, April 17, April 28 and May 3. Experts will lead discussions on individual chapters, including “Jim Crow and Nazi Germany” and “White America.” Two other talks will cover “How We Measure Humanity” and “Personal Connection and Change.”

The unique five-community book club is sponsored by CURE (Coalition for Understanding Racism through Education) in partnership with each of the five libraries in Harrison, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, New Rochelle and Rye. Copies of Caste are available at each of the five participating libraries. Holds may be placed on copies through the Westchester Library System online catalog or the e-book can be borrowed for free through Overdrive.

Readers in the five shore towns wishing to participate in any or all of the discussions can register here for free.