www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/N10202002,b.asp -
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Published on: 10/20/2002
Last Visited: 10/20/2002
Sponsored by the Springfield, Chatham and Rochester public libraries, the "Together We Read" program is shaping up as a success, according to Corinne Frisch, spokeswoman for Lincoln Library, Springfield's public library.
Of 115 copies of "Plainsong" owned by the three libraries, only two were available to be checked out Thursday, Frisch said.
Springfield's Barnes & Noble bookstore, a co-sponsor of the program, has sold more than 250 copies of the book - at 20 percent off the cover price - since the program began, and sales of "Plainsong" at other area bookstores are reportedly "brisk," Frisch said.
The three libraries also have given out 400 to 500 free readers kits, which contain suggested book discussion questions, biographical information on the author and other material about the book.
People who read the book seem to be having the kinds of discussions the organizers of the program hoped they would.
For example, a discussion at the Chatham library last Wednesday, she said, "was just the kind of discussion we wanted."
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Frisch said people are getting questions about the book ready for appearances by Haruf in Rochester and Springfield on Nov. 19.He will speak at the Rochester library at noon that day and at Lincoln Library at 7 p.m.
There also will be a live panel discussion and a call-in question and answer session on Springfield cable TV's channel 18, the municipal access channel, at 6 p.m. Oct. 30, Frisch said.