The W’s 2025-26 Community Read underway

Mississippi University for Women is continuing its partnership with the Columbus community for the annual Community Read Program, which recently kicked off its newest installment.

This year, the Community Read Committee has selected “The Barn” by Wright Thompson.

“Each selection is an attempt to connect themes within our community and university through a text that allows for wide discussion and intellectual curiosity,” said Hillary Richardson, dean of Library Services at The W. “Based on our programming for our 2023 community read, ‘How the Word is Passed,’ the Mississippi Humanities Council offered to partner with us on this book, and we agreed that it was a great selection.”

The book examines the location of the lynching of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955, using Wright’s deep understanding of the story and factors that led to the murder, having lived near where the crime took place. Thompson addresses the facts and myths of the circumstances of this murder, but this book is mostly about the agricultural, economic and social histories of the Mississippi Delta that created this moment and the ripple effects that this moment had on the communities that both left and continued to stay there. Wright also addresses this “barn” – a place that still physically exists – as an artifact of forgetfulness.

The Community Read is a partnership between The W and its Fant Memorial Library and local organizations and businesses.

This year’s collaborators include The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library, the City of Columbus and Friendly City Books.

“Our goal is to engage our community through reading, foster intellectual curiosity, encourage community connections and broaden our understanding of the world and our community,” said Rachael Damms, collections librarian/assistant professor and chair of the Community Read Committee. “Each year we choose a book with themes relevant to our community and host group discussions, speaker events and various programming designed to engage with the book.”

There will be a plethora of events hosted by The W and its partners throughout the course of the year, kicking off at Possumtown Book Festival, August 16th. Many of these are still in development, and further information will be posted at muw.edu/calendar/category/communityread/ as they are finalized.

All book talks and speaker events will be free and open to the public. If any events require registration, that information will be advertised in advance, along with how to register.

Copies of the book can be checked out at Fant Memorial Library and CLPL, or purchased as either hardback or audio book at Friendly City Books. A paperback version is set to be released in September, and following this, there will be a limited number of copies given away at events.

To learn more about the Community Read, please visit muw.edu/read/.