Common Reading Program inviting book suggestions for 2013-14

Faculty, staff, students and community members are invited to suggest a book to be considered for all 2013-14 incoming undergraduate students to read before beginning their studies at Purdue. This book will be the fifth selected in Purdue's Common Reading Program.

To suggest a book, go to the Common Reading website at www.purdue.edu/commonreading. The submission form will be available until Oct. 15.

The program's mission is to provide a common academic experience for all new students -- an experience that sets high academic expectations for students from the beginning of their undergraduate careers. It is co-sponsored by Student Access, Transition, and Success Programs (SATS) and Purdue Libraries, and is funded by the Office of the Provost.

The selected book for 2012-13 is "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope" by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. The book was provided free of charge to all incoming first-year and transfer students over the summer. Students had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Kamkwamba and ask him questions at a convocation the day before the start of classes. More than 5,500 students, faculty and staff attended.

A Book Selection Committee made up of faculty, staff, and students will review book suggestions for 2013-14 during the fall term and will announce next year's selection in the spring. The book will be distributed to beginning and transfer students during the Summer Transition, Advising and Registration (STAR) program.

Questions should be directed to the co-chairs of the Common Reading Program: Jared Tippets, director of SATS, at jtippets@purdue.edu; or Robert Freeman, associate professor of Library Science, at rsfree@purdue.edu. For more information about the program, visit www.purdue.edu/commonreading.