Wayne County Reads Kicks Off with Book Discussion, Moves to Issues in “Educated”

March 05, 2019

A robust discussion of Educated, Wayne County Reads’ 2019 book selection has set the tone for this year’s “season of reading.”

Liz Meador, an adjunct English instructor at Wayne Community College, prepares to respond to an audience question as Rebecca Whitman, a WCC Adult High School English instructor, makes a point about college admission requirements during Tuesday’s Wayne County Reads event.

Panelists talked about the literary merits of Tara Westover’s book, memoir as a writing style, what it means to be “educated,” and their personal take-aways from the book before a full house at the Goldsboro Library on Tuesday, March 5.

Jessica de la Rosa, a University of Mount Olive student who is writing her senior research paper on the memoir genre, talks about her personal experiences with memoir writing and the accuracy of memory in response to a question from Wayne County Reads panel moderator Kelsey Chandler, a UMO librarian, while UMO professor Linda Holland-Toll listens.

The audience asked questions and weighed in with their opinions of the book and its themes of abuse and neglect, memory and catharsis, human resilience, and the role of education in healing.

*Audience member Ann Broadaway asks a question of the panel at Tuesday evening’s program on **Educated** by Tara Westover.*

The next program is a discussion of “Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Resilience, and the Role of Education” by psychology experts and individuals who had challenging childhoods. It is set for 7-8 p.m. on March 12 in Moffatt Auditorium at Wayne Community College on Wayne Memorial Drive in Goldsboro. Following the program, refreshments will be served and community organizations will be available with information about resources they offer that that help children and adults deal with ACEs.

A talk by Horace Best, “Through My Lens: Reflections on Time Well Spent,” will touch on his passion for photography and learning, and how they have played a role in his resilience. That event is scheduled for 7 p.m. on March 19 at the Goldsboro Library on Ash Street in Goldsboro.

A drop-in Community Connects Fair will offer participants a chance to learn how to build personal and community resilience with hobbyists and volunteer organizations. It will be held 7-9 p.m. on March 26 at the University of Mount Olive’s Pope Wellness Center in Mount Olive.

All Wayne County Reads programs are free and open to the public.

The Wayne County Public Library has books, e-books, and audio copies available for lending. For those who would like to purchase their own copy, the Books-A-Million store in Goldsboro has this title in stock.

Wayne County Read’s core community partners are Literacy Connections of Wayne County, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Library, University of Mount Olive, Wayne Community College, Wayne County Public Library, and Wayne County Public Schools. This year it is supported by Eastpointe, Mental Health Association of Wayne County, and Partnership for Children of Wayne County.

Past selections of Wayne County Reads have included: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Big Fish by Daniel Wallace, Night by Elie Wiesel, Walking Across Egypt by Clyde Edgerton, Blood Done Sign My Name by Tim Tyson, Blackbeard: America’s Most Notorious Pirate by Angus Konstam, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace … One School at a Time and Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Greg Mortenson, The Pleasure Was Mine by Tommy Hays, Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, Poetry 180, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. WCR was on hiatus in 2017.