SJSU Campus Reading Program

Building a Culture of Reading at SJSU

The Fall 2008
Campus Reading Book:

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

New Stay informed and share your comments about the book - join the
Campus Reading Program at SJSU on Facebook


Want an amazing poster? - Click here.
(Poster designed by My Pham, Graphic Design Major)

New for 08/09 - The Campus Reading Program is partnering with the Steinbeck Center to focus on a Steinbeck book for spring that ties in some way to the Fall book. The selection for spring 2009 is Cannery Row which also takes place during the Great Depression.

Events Calendar

Reading Guide
(1 page)

Table of Contents

How to participate                          Information for Faculty
Events to mark on your calendar   What is the SJSU Campus Reading Program?
Reading Guide  (URL)  (PDF) Print a poster for your office or classroom
About the book and author Special information for frosh entering SJSU in fall 2008
Related Reading Why a Culture of Reading at SJSU?
Prior years' book selections + photos from the Theater productions What else is the campus reading? (other activities of the Campus Reading Program)
Share comments about the book or offer suggestions for the 2008 reading  
Spring "Wall of Reading" Banned Books Week
Additional campus information and resources Campus Reading Program Committee members
SJSU Legacy of Poetry Day (April 23) and Info on the Legacy  

What is the SJSU Campus Reading Program?

The Campus Reading Program involves the members of our campus - students and employees, reading the same book. A book is selected each year that students, faculty and staff are encouraged to read during the summer. Then at the start of the fall semester, readers engage in critique and analysis of the book in small discussion groups.  This has become a common practice at many universities as a way to help members of a campus community connect - to have something in common - to engage with each other in talking about their perspectives of a book and to engage in a lively and intellectual manner through a variety of campus activities offered around the book.  A book read by many enriches a campus community.

In selecting a book, we look for a bestseller to increase the likelihood of SJSU readers also being able to connect to readers off-campus. We also look for a book that is engaging and likely to be of wide interest. The book should provide a range of topics for discussion and lead readers to look at a topic in a different way than they might have before reading the book. This is what a university education is designed to do - to broaden one's perspectives and ways of looking at the world. The book selected does not indicate any particular point of view held by San José State University as an institution. The book selected might deal with a sensitive or controversial topic, but university-level readers know that that makes for an enriched learning experience.

About the 2008 Selection - Water for Elephants

How to Participate

  • Buy a copy of the book at the Spartan Bookstore for the discounted price of $9.99. Or, check out a copy at your local library. Students requiring a copy in alternative format should contact the Disability Resource Center at (408) 924-6000  or  www.drc.sjsu.edu.

    • Good news for freshmen entering SJSU in Fall 2008 - you'll receive a copy of Water for Elephants when you attend Orientation in the summer!

  • Read the book.  Take some notes of your thoughts, ideas and questions as you're reading.  (coming soon)

    Check the calendar of events and mark your calendar to participate in a Fall 2008 discussion group, attend other events.  Be sure to bring your book and notes (if any) to the discussion group you'll be attending. Click here for the events calendar.

  • Consider sharing your comments about the book with others. See link and information above about an online discussion hosted by Litminds.org.

  • Suggestions for future book readings for the campus?  Send an email to the committee

  • Want information about the book and its author?  Click here.

Why you should participate: The Campus Reading Program offers a wonderful opportunity to build connections with students, faculty and staff on campus through a common reading - it gives us all a shared experience to talk about.  It is a great opportunity to get engaged in the level of intellectual engagement expected of SJSU students.  You'll impress your professors, be able to join in on campus life through a discussion group, and enrich the experience you'll have on your journey of becoming a lifelong learner. If you are a freshman starting classes in the fall, you'll find that participating in the reading program to be a great opportunity to get engaged in a college level discussion and get a glimpse of what your university experience will be like and what is expected of you. You should view reading the selected book and participating in a discussion group and attending other events connected with the reading as an important first assignment in your college career.

Information on Steinbeck's Cannery Row

Like Water for Elephants, this book by John Steinbeck also takes place during the Great Depression. The SJSU Steinbeck Center and Campus Reading Program will have events in spring 2009 tied to this book. The book is for sale at the Spartan Bookstore and is available in the King Library.

What Else is the Campus Reading  +  Book Group Discussion Opportunities

  • President's Fall 2007 Reading Group - Creating Campus Community, by Wm. McDonald and Associates (2002)

  • Information on past events - what has the campus been reading and discussing? - click here

Why a Culture of Reading at SJSU?

Reading is a crucial for lifelong learning.  The campus is dedicated to building a Culture of Reading to help all students have a successful learning experience and to be able to have a successful journey of learning throughout their lives.

"Through reading we learn about lives other than our own; we learn about history and culture; and 
we learn about economic and political realities and complexities."   Dr. Ping Hsu, Associate Dean, SJSU College of Engineering    

 

"NSSE data indicate that students at most DEEP schools read more both for class and for pleasure than their peers at comparable institutions."  
Kuh, et al, Student Success in College: Creating Conditions That Matter (2005), page 187  

 

 "A capacity, and taste, for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved problems. And not only so. It gives a relish, and facility, for successfully pursuing the unsolved ones."   President Abraham Lincoln               

 

"Strong reading habits enhance skills required in the 21st-century workplace, such as high literacy and analytical skills. ...   A culture of reading helps foster analytical thinking, creativity and innovation, and positive learning habits."   National Governors' Association     

Additional Information and Resources
This page last updated August 9, 2008

Questions or comments? Please contact 

anellen@sjsu.edu