Polk State College Employees to Again Participate in 4-1-1 Reading Initiative

Posted on by Polk Newsroom

Polk State College employees will once again hit the books as part of the College’s 4-1-1 (Four Books, One College, One Reading World) Project.

Polk State organized 4-1-1 about five years ago. Each fall, employees are invited to suggest books to the 4-1-1 team. The 4-1-1 team then weighs the number of recommendations each book has received, as well as reviews of the books, and selects four titles that represent various genres.

Copies of the selected books are made available at the College’s annual holiday events for faculty and staff. This year’s Winter Haven holiday event will be at 1 p.m. on Dec. 6 in the Administration Building boardroom. The Lakeland event will be at 1 p.m. on Dec. 7 in Room 1100 of the Lakeland Technology Building.

During Professional Development Day, scheduled for March 2, employees will discuss the books. Employees will also be able to swap the books they’ve read for other selected titles.

“It is important for the College community to participate in the 4-1-1 employee reading initiative because it creates a community of readers who model intellectual engagement, understand diverse perspectives, and encourage reading and discussion,” said Courtlann Thomas, director of academic support services and 4-1-1 team organizer.

The books selected for 4-1-1 include:

  • “Moneyball,” by Michael Lewis. Baseball insider Lewis tells the story of how Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane assembled winning teams on a tight budget by recruiting young affordable players and inexpensive castoff veterans that other managers underestimated.
  • “Sarah’s Key” by Tatiana de Rosnay. De Rosnay fictionalizes the 1942 roundups and deportations of Jewish families in Paris. Her main character, Julia Jarmond, is a writer covering the 60thanniversary of the roundups, an assignment that leads to revelations about her husband’s family and herself.
  • “The Help” by Kathryn Stockett. Set in 1962 in Mississippi, “The Help” follows two black maids and a young white woman who has just graduated from Ole Miss. The three couldn’t be more different, but they come together for a project that will put them all at risk.
  • “The Little Book of Economics” by Greg Ip. If any good has come from the financial market meltdown and mass layoffs, it’s that many Americans now want to better understand how the U.S. economy functions. Ip, a recognized economics journalist, walks readers through how the economy really works.