Book Selection Process
Nominations are accepted on a rolling basis. Email your suggestion to shollida@shepherd.edu or comment on our social media to recommend a book for consideration.
The annual selection process for the Common Reading was developed by the First-Year Experience Taskforce in 2007. Fliers and e-mails are sent to faculty, staff, students, and community members each fall semester to solicit suggestions for a new Common Reading. Nominations are taken year-round and can be submitted by anyone wishing to recommend a book by emailing author and title to shollida@shepherd.edu.
Typically, around 50 suggestions are received, all of which are analyzed based on criteria of appeal, cost, length and availability. These books are procured with assistance from the Scarborough Library and read by members of the Common Reading Selection Committee over Winter Break. In January, the committee meets again to discuss and reanalyze the list, narrowing the number down to five semi-final selections. Throughout the month of February, an open vote is held via the Shepherd University homepage and Common Reading website; the book with the highest number of votes at the end of the voting period is selected as the next Common Reading.
Current members of the Common Reading Selection Committee include:
Shepherd Members: Shannon Holliday, Sylvia Shurbutt, Heidi Hanrahan, Brian Santana, Laura Robertson, LeAnn Johnson, Sally Brasher, Rhonda Donaldson, Diana Brubaker, Eileen Espinosa, Beth Tevault, Josh Beck, Isabella Sager, Kristen Marino, Lee Ambrose, Sadie Shorr-Parks, Tara Carlisle, Todd Cimino-Johnson, Valerie Stevens, and Alexandra Alward.
Community Members: Carolyn Rodis, Nancy Stewart, Becky Phipps, Michelle Ricketts, Susan Kern, Jennifer Gerholdt, Mary Watters, Rachel Hally, Christine Dorsey, Kathy Buchanan, and Theresa Trainor
To nominate a book email shollida@shepherd.edu