 and welcome to this episode of talk of the town I'm James Milan and I am joined today I'm pleased to say by Anna Lytton who is the assistant director of our very beloved Robbins and Fox libraries and we are here to talk about a wonderful event on our annual calendar here in town and that is Arlington Reads Together which is always takes place in the month of March for most of the month of March in terms of all of the events and it's always around one book that is being read by the community and then a number of events that have to do with that same subject matter so that's what we're here to talk about today and first of all so glad to have you in the studio thank you yeah it's exciting to be here yeah we have spoken with you screen-to-screen we have many a time and your face adorns our TV channels a certain amount of the time because we do produce so much programming in conjunction with the library and really pleased to do that but let's talk about this year's read and you know before we do that I wanted just to ask you to kind of pull back the curtain a little bit on Arlington Reads Together which is you know this is this year's iteration and we'll spend the majority of our conversation talking about that but how does this come together how do you guys decide who decides and what are the considerations that are in play as you make your decision each year for what we're going to read yeah thanks great questions to begin Arlington Reads Together began as a community read program in 2003 so it's a pretty long-running program right now and we've had just some fantastic titles over the year I came to the library in 2018 and one of the first things I started to do once I started my position was to prep for the 2019 Arlington Reads Together program the program works really through community-driven interest I would say we have a committee of library staff people from Arlington Public Schools we are supported of course by our long-running partnership on this program with the diversity task group of Envision Arlington members of our friends group somebody from our foundation many different people join us in our selection committee but before that committee meets we put out a community wide call for suggested titles for our community read book this year we got I believe 40 suggestions from the community of titles that people thought would be great books for a community read program our committee gets together we look at the titles we look at availability of those titles we look at we start to think about the types of programs that we could build around these the titles and really take a deep dive into learning more about them and from there we have a complicated voting process this year we included some ranked choice voting which was a lot of fun it involved a little bit of math but it worked out wonderfully and usually the selection committee chooses the one final title that we use for our community read this year in the interest of getting more community input we actually had community members vote on our final three titles so the committee chose a final list of three titles and community members voted on those I spent a couple of beautiful days at the farmers market reminding people that everyone in town has the opportunity to vote and the book that won this year that that long process was braiding sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and in fact it won by a lot some of the votes went to this so start out with 40 titles as a possible possible excuse me and then include a ranked choice system yes and in the end and a resounding community response for this title yeah for those people who are not familiar with braiding sweetgrass indigenous wisdom scientific knowledge and the teaching of plants this book has been this book has been a New York Times bestseller for a number of years Robin Wall Kimmerer is just the book is beautiful it's interesting it's based in science and lore and it's very poetic so there's a lot about it that pulls in many different people I think it's a fantastic choice we all we do look to offer a number of different kinds of books to the community last year we did a pretty heavy read this book is heavy but with a much lighter touch and is the best way I think I can describe it so it felt like a great book for the times we're in right now yeah and and there is the book itself of course and then there is the subject matter that that book is going to be exploring or be kind of like the leading edge but also you know that subject matter gets spread out among a number of different presentations that happened through throughout the month so how would you describe you've described the book and read the title and subtitle of course but how how would you describe again you know what is it that we are looking at as a community right in terms of wrestling with informing ourselves about etc yeah there were so many themes in this book that made this the right book for this time obviously climate challenges environmental justice are such important issues here in Arlington as well as around the world we see a lot of interest in those issues here in our community we are all I think at a place where we are wanting to learn more about the lies of indigenous people in our communities in our history and this book offered us the opportunity to lean into a number of different areas I think that we're really important for us right now and I absolutely agree with you James that the part of the the part of the annual Arlington reads to gather program that I always enjoy the most is building the program calendar there's just so many fantastic speakers we can bring in so many opportunities for community conversation and that is truly the part that inspires me hearing people get together and talk about our books yeah that's really and again it kind of reinforces the place that that the libraries have in this town which as I'm sure is the case in most places in which you are fortunate enough to have a vigorous library it is going to be a community center it is going to be a center around which not just reading education pleasure enjoyment happens but also where you come together to again examine explore really kind of just just process in a communal way absolutely yeah and the learning that we do as a community you know particularly now there are so many different sources of news that people can turn to there are so many different voices coming at it from so many places to come together to learn together as a community should really be a gift and that is really part of the library's mission here in our town what can we how can we create learning opportunities for everyone here Arlington yeah and I think the the other thing I would want to mention is how appropriate it is it is in a lot of ways that this be our community read in Arlington at this time because in addition to the other aspects that you've already mentioned there is the fact that we I think are and also pride ourselves in being a truly green community yes a community that is genuinely concerned about and committed to doing something about you know whatever we can do in our little town about about you know global warming climate change etc. and and looking at our effect on the environment is something that feels like it's part of the fabric of what we do in town yeah I absolutely agree and there are just so many ways that we can help those conversations along one of the fantastic things about reading a book by an indigenous scientist is it helps bring in some kind of other perspectives that we can think about our climate activism around gas lines obviously an important issue here in Arlington but leaning in to think about well what have indigenous people known about the environment around them for thousands of years and how does the knowledge the the what you have known about your observed world as an indigenous person tie in with what you know about your observed world as a scientist is it something that we are very excited to offer in this year's program yeah and I dare say I really think that maybe somebody who's listening in right now just would have been brought up a little bit you know just just kind of have their attention snapped into place when you said indigenous scientist simply that combination I think first of all of course right right of course there are hundreds thousands of indigenous people who are also scientists right but I definitely think it's one of those things where people are not associating these things nearly as much as you know I'm sure is warranted right and it's a great way again to just kind of say you know you didn't you didn't realize that you weren't thinking about this yeah yeah I think of that when we think about judges for example we know that your lived experience as a black judge might impact how you understand a situation your lived experience as an indigenous scientist I think also brings a really unique perspective and it's exciting to be able to highlight some of those yeah this is it's it really you know every year I enjoy talking about these things with you of course but this is you know I it's also very nice again to have you present in the studio because that energy that's very characteristic of you is really you know it's on full display here I truly love libraries and I love library programs and it does well that makes two and many more of us so so let's talk a little bit about the program I know that you brought the book show that but you also brought the program I brought the program guide which is available in the library as well as online we we really I think again looked into hitting a real zeitgeist moment around the book Braiding Sweetgrass which has been a New York Times bestseller many communities are interested in the themes here so one of the great things about our Arlington Reads Together program this year is that we were able to partner with some other local area libraries which has just been a real you know when you look for a COVID silver lining the way that we've been able to offer zoom programs with other communities has been fantastic there's an event on Thursday March 3rd a kickoff event for the month which is a lecture by a local historian about indigenous communities in New England I think of frequently when we begin our many meetings right now with a land acknowledgement well what do we really know about some of the communities that we are acknowledging and giving ourselves the opportunity to embrace an opportunity to have a land acknowledgement but also let that also be a little bit of a learning moment for us to lean into it let's take that as a real challenge I want to know more about the communities whose land we are acknowledging so it's gonna be a fantastic opportunity to do that we are partnering the Wellesley free library for that event I am very very excited about an event on Sunday March 6th again an indigenous scientist will be with us Dr. Kyle White who is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi nation and a leading climate scientist he's does some work with a White House council he is a scientist at the University of Michigan and he's going to be hosting what I think is going to be a fantastic talk really looking forward to that one and what what what what will he be you know is there a kind of a specific theme for his his talk because I know part of it is that of course and then a big part of what happens in all of the events that you guys do not only as for Arlington Reads together but in general is that Q&A that happens where there's that interaction yeah that's really where a lot of the magic happens as well but nonetheless I'm sure he's here to speak to us on a theme yeah absolutely so the the topic for the title of the talk is understanding our past creating a sustainable future an indigenous understanding of climate justice so he really is going to be talking about some of these issues of of justice in environmental movements he's going to be talking about the ways that in indigenous groups have worked successfully in environment in climate activist spaces I'm sure he's going to be talking about some of the ways that indigenous voices have been left out of some of those conversations and I think that's going to be fascinating for me because we all know how important it is to include diverse voices what happens when you leave some really important voices out so really looking forward to hearing him speak he's a really engaging speaker it's going to be a great opportunity for people to really hear a perspective that as you pointed out I don't think we always think indigenous scientists and leaning into it is going to be a fantastic opportunity and that is I mean you were just talking about voices left out that I'm going to make a slight digression here and just kind of say that feels to me like another one of those areas in which the library plays a vital role here in town and I'm thinking about the elevating voices of color the archive that you are slowly but surely building it's a great meeting about it and it's actually launched great that is you know that we've been waiting for that good news but I bring it up mostly just to say yes this is something again the library is goes so far beyond the stacks that are there that delight me and many others as well but what what you're what you're doing for this community what we count on from the library is to find those voices to elevate them to make sure that we are presented with information we may want to know and information we may not have wanted to know before but very important that we move forward on that basis so I expect that Dr. White's talk will be just of a piece with much other of the offerings that you that you guys have done over the years that I've been aware and that again that will elicit this kind of individual internal contemplation and a certain amount of introspection but also kind of a community conversation as we've mentioned various times you guys find yourselves at the center I think of a lot of community conversations anyway you've mentioned a couple of of the you know the events in the short term because we're speaking to you right now at the beginning of March so we know that coming up quickly are the are these events that you've just mentioned but I know that there are a couple more at least yeah absolutely there's quite a few more I want to mention really make sure that people know about an event that's going to end the month that I think should be so fascinating we are hosting a film screening and directors Q&A with director Anne Makepeace her film we are still here is a few years old now but it's about a fantastic fantastic effort to reinvigorate the Wampanoag language I am so interested in this film in the work that the linguists did to really make sure that this language was not lost it's amazing how many languages are lost worldwide all the time and to make sure that the Wampanoag language lives on is just it's just such an interesting way of preserving a culture and preserving a people and making sure that that important piece is still there so that's gonna end the month of programs in between now and then we're hosting with our friends at the Watertown Public Library we'll be hosting an author talk with a book that many people have read all the real Indians died off so another opportunity for us to work with our colleagues other in other communities and shed some light on again a fascinating history of really a book that looks a lot about myths we know there's so many myths about indigenous communities and pulling the curtain back on those myths and learning more about the real life lives of indigenous people across the United States is gonna be fantastic you know when you were talking about Dr. White's upcoming presentation you were mentioning that he he's gonna speak to and and some of the work that he does addresses this issue of justice you know all kinds of justice but you know climate justice etc and that reminds me you've got a you have a an event that's going to be that's going to be kind of the inauguration the inaugural event for a social justice reading group yes that as I said to you before we went on camera that intrigues me just you know just the possibilities for things that could be addressed through such a reading group and what the benefits could be that struck me very very quick you know very very strongly so tell me tell us more yeah well Arlington we all know Arlington is a community that does lean into learning about issues around justice many different kinds of issues around justice we see this across town and I know it makes us all so proud to be here at ACMI yeah it makes us so proud to be in this community where people are willing to lean into these difficult conversations we were approached by our long-term partners at the diversity task group to to have a discussion what could we do to support a social justice book group and it was really a no-brainer for us we were ready to take on this challenge in partnership with the diversity task group they decided that it would be perfect to launch this new book group with this book one of the things that I love about this choice is I think when people hear social justice book group they think you are going to be reading a book like the last year which is why are all the black kids sitting together at the cafeteria a book that leans very heavily into race obviously this book will take on those but this book group will take on those types of issues and those types of books but a social justice book group gives us places to have many different kinds of conversations and the more we all learn about climate justice and the inequities in environmental degradation in communities of color I think it's just fantastic that they decided to launch with this book group that's going to be happening on March 24th I think I'm sorry it's it's fine you don't have to have everything memorized you can even open the program and look if you want exactly and it's going to be get March 22nd it's gonna be a fantastic discussion are one of our newer librarians is going to be leading that book group he actually led a social justice book group at his last library he was really excited to take on that challenge here as well that sound I mean that that that sounds great and again I think it's going to lead you know for for the people who are directly involved and then you know as as as the effects ripple out it's going to lead to a lot of people having one of those moments or many where they're like I didn't know that right I didn't I didn't realize you know nobody told me that you know and again that's that is the the way that we all kind of stumble forward as individuals or as a community in terms of actually making progress in our own education and so again creating another opportunity for smaller and then larger groups concentrically out from there to engage with these things yay for the library really it's it's it's again it's the right place for a lot of this to be seated but you need to be kind of mindful and vigilant of the opportunities to do so yeah and it feels like our library's leadership has been that way for as long as I've been going and that's a lot of decades now so I just want to say you know I do really appreciate that that aspect as well okay I you know let let me ask you I mean we've covered a lot of ground and clearly I think all of our audience is going to be aware that you are excited that this is kind of there's something for everybody in our community in what you're offering so just remind us how do people how can people get involved obviously they can come to these events these are all going to be live events they're all going to they're all going to be live events the book group is an in-person event with a hybrid option most of the events are zoom events we are of course we always try to offer something for children as well we are having an in-person story time that's based more loosely around some of the topics in the book as well but absolutely they are zoom events many of them are recorded anyone can go to our website robinslibrary.org and to the direct link for the Arlington Reads Together program find the full list of events as well as registration information right on that page okay so let's let's just be very clear that in fact these are not going to be I was said live but I meant in-person events but in fact they're we're not yet there exactly we you know this program has been in the works for many months we're so excited to be open in the library now but we weren't sure when we were planning this what the situation would be like of course so our book group is an in-person event with a hybrid option and but most of the other events are zoom events okay well again the the you know we're all aware of the downside of that and that we all like to be to congregate together and again there is that interactive aspect that is much easier when we're all in one place right however having said that you guys again have a couple of years worth of experience in knowing what one of the bright spots of COVID has been the amount of engagement has increased in any number of areas that the library you know makes offerings in you were telling me about you know the the electric electronic book or e-book kind of explosion yeah which is actually a fantastic piece about this program as well one of the reasons that we chose this title and one of the things that made this title particularly attractive to us is that this book is available both as an e-book and an audio book through hoopla one of the library's tools for downloadable e-books and audio books if anyone has never used hoopla it's a very easy tool to use you can download an app onto any device easy to use and robin wall Kimmer herself reads the audio book and sometimes people like I don't like it when the author reads she's a fantastic reader her voice is so calm and beautiful I think she really is she brings out the poetic nature of the book in a way that I'm sure some readers would not have done that's great you know we while we have a couple of minutes let me just ask you to elaborate a little bit more on something you just said which was when you were making the preparations for this and the reason why all these events are going to be generally remote is because you had to make those decisions sometime back and you're you like the rest of us are quite psyched about what's happened over the last little while we're have to be cautiously optimistic but nonetheless it's hard to rain ourselves in from enjoying the fact that we can be in more places together and then even without masks etc so what's the story with the library for folks who are curious yeah the library is open we are hosting in-person events we had our first import person sing-along this morning at the Fox branch library back down in East Arlington so our calendar is opening up for in-person events all of our services and spaces are open and ready for community members to come in and visit it is wonderful to be able to see faces in the library again and I know I speak not just for myself but for so many library staff one of the hardest parts for me of this pandemic has not been able to offer an open library and open library is just a gift to the community and having the times when we had restricted access was hard and it's just it really brings me so much joy to see people back and use in the library yeah you and I spoke at various times over the last couple of years about the the prospect of this but we didn't know whether it was a month or a year away at that at any of those times so really nice that we are here you were saying it's awesome to see people's faces in the library what I'm wondering is are we actually seeing half of people's faces I assume we like Arlington has lifted the mask mandate people are welcome to come into the library with or without a mask whichever makes you comfortable we certainly see many people who are choosing to wear masks and many people who are choosing to take their masks off and we welcome all library visitors that's great just just like here at ACMI it really is we want to make sure that everybody is comfortable either wearing or not wearing a mask as they so choose yeah absolutely important for us great well anything that we have forgotten to say I I I imagine not no I think we covered so much I am just so excited to see virtually so many people at events around this book there are still last time I look there are still copies of the physical book on our shelf ready for people to pick up when they walk in the library and of course those digital copies through hoopla are always available at any time of day or night for anyone in town well I will be coming by myself to grab a physical copy because as you and I know I do have a preference for actual books still but I will definitely be doing that in the next couple of days and really really look forward to all the programming that you've described it's going to be wonderful thanks thanks thanks to you to you all for the work that's been put together to present this for us and that will wrap up this wonderful conversation I'm James Milan I have been speaking with Anna Lytton our assistant director of our library here in town about braiding sweet grass this year's Arlington reads together book choice so get to the library get your copy and we will see you virtually at one of the events we appreciate Anna being here to tell us all about it I'm James Milan we appreciate you being here as well we'll see you next time