A reading list for Civic Season & America250

This year marks the sixth year of Civic Season, the tradition that brings Americans together between Juneteenth and July 4th to explore the country's history and their own place in it. Across the country, the hundreds of organizations and cultural institutions participating in Civic Season have developed programming to spark civic engagement in young Americans—through video, interactive experiences, and, prominently this year, books and libraries.

Reading and books have always played an important role in civic life in the United States. One need only mention Uncle Tom's Cabin, Common Sense, The Jungle, and The Federalist Papers to be reminded that books have ignited revolutions and wars, inspired landmark legislation, and helped establish the framework of our government.

This year's Civic Season features books and libraries as entry points for a new generation of engaged citizens. At Monticello, the Declaration Book Club pairs short readings and videos with discussion questions that ask participants to grapple with what the Founders declared—and what the pursuit of unalienable rights looks like today. The Sing Sing Prison Museum's Short Attention Span Book Club takes a different approach, centering discussion on themes of social justice. The Atlanta History Center will host a Silent Book Club, where members read independently in a shared space before gathering to talk—a model designed to reclaim reading as pleasure in an age of constant distraction.

At Conner Prairie and the San Francisco Public Library, book clubs focus specifically on challenged and banned titles, from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to Malinda Lo's Last Night at the Telegraph Club. These clubs are making space for people to connect while uplifting freedom for publication and distribution of ideas and books.

Beyond book clubs, participating Civic Season hosts have also created reading lists and Civic Season also partnered with Little Free Libraries—more than 100,000 neighborhood book exchanges across the country—whose hosts have helped distribute Civic Season materials alongside their books. 

The DC Public Library and New America each offer Civic Season reading lists spanning a wide range of materials, from Jill Lepore's recent work on the U.S. Constitution to Whitney Houston's iconic rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, with readings on labor, immigration, and the ongoing questions of identity and belonging in American life.

Together, these programs help young Americans—and Americans of all ages—understand how the United States arrived at this moment, its 250th anniversary. And they create space for conversation about what each of us can do to shape what comes next. Books have always had the power to inform and catalyze change in civic life. This Civic Season, they are doing exactly that.

Get started on your reading list in the Libby app: 

*Title availability may vary.