About

Impetus for Randolph Reads: A Home on the Field community reading program comes from the Latino Coalition of Randolph County with the goals of improving relations and increasing understanding of the greater community about who the Latino immigrants are, why they are here, how they came and what challenges they face in our community.

Community reading programs like Randolph Reads: A Home on the Field began in Seattle in 1998 and since have spread nationwide. The goal of these experiences is to bring people together through reading a book that explores matters relevant to the community – to allow people from all walks of life to have a common literary experience and share their views on themes and issues raised by the book under consideration.

Randolph Reads was begun by the Friends of the Library in 2003 with Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Hundreds of participants read the book and joined in activities including five discussions, a staged reading of the play and a screening of the feature film based on the novel. In subsequent years Randolph Reads selections have included Raney by Clyde Edgerton and Wolf Whistle by Lewis Nordan.

The organizing committee for Randolph Reads: A Home on the Field includes:

Joyce Gamarra, Latino Coalition of Randolph County
Donna Hall, Friends of the Library
Ross Holt, Randolph County Public Library
Amy Keith Barney, Randolph County Public Library
Veronica Gutierrez, Randolph County Public Library
Philip Shore, Randolph Arts Guild
Ralph Norton, Asheboro Police Department
Kim Cassell, Randolph Community College
Melinda Lamb, Randolph Community College
Debbie Luck, Randolph Community College
Joy McLaughlin, community member
Bonnie Edwards, ESL Lead Teacher for Randolph County Schools
Claudia Aleman, community volunteer
Kari Baumann, community volunteer
Betty Foust, community volunteer
Brenda Lopez, student volunteer
Luis Martinez, student volunteer
Adriana Paschal, community volunteer
Maria Perez, student volunteer
John Poole, student volunteer