Perspectives Book Groups

Now accepting applications! Hosts can apply for one Perspectives program in our fiscal year. (11/1/23-10/31/24)

All titles on our Perspectives reading list this year will support the United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture (UWS) initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanites. UWS leverages the arts and humanities to combat hate-motivated violence. This initiative will support programming promoting civic engagement, social cohesion, cross-cultural understanding, and deepening the public's understanding of community, state, and national history.  Click HERE to learn more about the broader UWS initiative.

What is Perspectives? 

Through this program, participants engage with diverse perspectives in the humanities through literature to build understanding and empathy, and to support a culture of reading in the Granite State. Easy to book and coordinate, Perspectives offers facilitated group book discussions in virtual or in-person settings. We welcome applications from all New Hampshire libraries, established book groups, or community organizations. New Hampshire Humanities provides expert facilitators and free copies of books – you provide the eager readers! 

Who can apply?

Private nonprofit organizations; institutions of higher education; state, local, and federally recognized Indian tribal governments; institutions of the federal government; groups of persons that form an association to carry out a project; and individuals are welcome to apply to host a book group.  Organizations or groups that apply to the councils for funding must be constituted for nonprofit purposes. It is not necessary that such organizations or groups be incorporated or have tax‑exempt status. This program must serve residents of New Hampshire.

Learn more by clicking on any of the following:

       

For more information about hosting a book group in your area, please contact Sue Butman at bookgroups@nhhumanities.org.

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"I am very excited to learn about this program that New Hampshire Humanities has supported. In this period of political strife, unrest, and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to have programs that help us reflect about our past to appreciate our diverse cultures, races, ethnicities, religions, and other identities. Thank you!" 

- Book group participant reflection after reading Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge

Perspectives book groups are made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the 2021 American Rescue Plan.