Library kicks off Vermont Reads program Oct. 30
October 26, 2023 | By Judi Byron
Vermont Reads, the statewide one-book community reading program presented by the Vermont Humanities Council has announced its 2023 book selection and the Waterbury Public Library has planned a number of activities around this provocative book of historical fiction.
“Last Night At The Telegraph Club” cover. Courtesy photo
In “Last Night at the Telegraph Club” by Malinda Lo, teenager Lily Hu is fully immersed in the life and culture of San Francisco’s Chinatown, home to Chinese immigrant families like hers. But as she comes of age in the 1950s, her passion for rockets and space exploration is matched by her curiosity about the Telegraph Club, located in a neighboring part of the city that her parents have asked her to avoid.
America in 1954 was not a safe place for two girls to fall in love. Red Scare paranoia threatened. Deportation loomed over Lily’s father and Lily and girlfriend Kath risk everything for love.
Copies of the books are available at the library’s front desk for patrons to take and keep, take and share, take and return. Reading the book, however, is not a prerequisite for attending any of the Vermont Reads programs associated with it. The library’s programs will address the book’s themes of self-acceptance, familial and cultural ties, US-China relations, LGBTQ+ and feminist history, McCarthyism and xenophobia.
Monday, Oct. 30, at 6:30 p.m.: The first event is aptly titled “Red Scare in the Green Mountains” taken from the title of the 2018 book by Vermont author Rick Winston. What happened in Vermont when the anti-Communist fear known as the “Red Scare” swept the country? Quite a bit, as it turns out. Winston’s “Red Scare in the Green Mountains: Vermont in the McCarthy Era” explores some forgotten history showing how a small, rural “rock-ribbed-Republican” state with a historically libertarian streak handled the hysteria of the time. The book recounts fascinating stories of that era in the Green Mountains, including a high-profile academic firing, a conservative senator who helped take down Joseph McCarthy, controversies involving left-leaning summer residents, and some veteran newspaper editors who spoke out against McCarthy’s tactics.
About Winston: He was the co-owner of Montpelier’s Savoy Theater for 29 years, and the programming director for the Green Mountain Film Festival for 14 years. He has taught film history at Burlington College, Community College of Vermont, Goddard College, and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and has made presentations throughout Vermont on film history.
Tuesday, Nov. 7, at 6:30 p.m.: Explore concepts of belonging, difference, self-image, discrimination and non-acceptance, in a roundtable discussion in collaboration with the Waterbury Area Anti-Racism Coalition and local resident and Korean-American Denise McCarty. While inspired by Lo’s book, attendees do not need to have read it to participate in this discussion.
Wednesday, Nov. 15, 6:30 p.m.: Movie Night with “Home from the Eastern Sea,” an award-winning documentary that tells the story of the immigration of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos to America through the lens of individual stories of representative families. Along with the personal stories are rare archival footage and the observations and perspectives of scholars, community activists and writers. Discussion and refreshments follow.
Wednesday, Nov. 29, at 6 p.m.: The final event is also the debut for the library’s new Adult Queer Reads series. This Vermont Reads event will be hosted by Circulation Assistant Anathe Parks. Queer Reads will be a monthly program for all members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies to discuss queer books, queer aspects of books, and queer experiences, in similar fashion to the popular Teen Queer Reads program at the library. It will continue with meetings on the last Wednesday of the month from 6-7:30 p.m. after this first session. Books will be available to borrow each month at the library’s help desk.
Judi Byron is the Waterbury Public Library’s Adult Program Coordinator. Reach her at judi@waterburypubliclibrary.com.