Chapman’s summer reading program, Community of Readers (CoR), is eleven years strong and just reached a milestone of 1,550 titles reviewed since its initial program kickoff in 2007. Back then, 18 eager participants from across campus dove into 90 book titles, including some from President Emeritus Doti’s summer reading list.

This year’s CoR program reached record heights. Concluding in August, CoR 2018 boasted 234 titles reviewed during 93 days of summer reading–the longest CoR duration ever, the most reviewed titles ever, and an 85% increase in posted reading activity since this time last year.

Who Participates in CoR?

Current library account holders with borrowing privileges participate in CoR each summer by reading books from the Leatherby Libraries and posting short book reviews to the CoR Blog. Participants receive prizes along the way.

Chapman’s 2018 Community of Readers gather in the Center for American War Letters Archives to share summer reading activity.

CoR 2018 drew 33 participants representing a combined total of 18 diverse departments and areas of graduate and undergraduate study across campus. The second floor Humanities library was the most frequented area of the Leatherby Libraries for CoR participants, followed by the first floor popular McNaughton fiction and non-fiction collection, and the first floor Graphic Novels collection. For help finding these and other collections in the Leatherby Libraries, stop by the first floor Reference Desk or feel free to Ask a Librarian for more information.

CoR Hall of Fame

CoR participants may receive prizes for up to 15 reads over the summer, and four of this year’s participants emerged at the 15-book finish line: Cathy Elliott of the Law Library, English student Alya Hijazi, and Leatherby Libraries staff members Margaret Puentes and Catalina Lopez.

Catalina was the first to complete (and surpass) this year’s 15-book challenge, penning a record total of 19 book reviews; her selections are featured in the infographic below.

CoR Honorable Mention

CoR 2018’s most reviewed title was Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard, and most reviewed authors were Bryan Lee O’Malley and Neil Gaiman.

The CoR version of the infamous America’s Got Talent red X is the “not recommended” rating participants may select for book reviews. This year’s program revealed 10 such titles, each reviewed and rejected by Chapman staff from the Leatherby Libraries, Facilities, and Schmidt College of Science and Technology.

Curious? Browse these and other materials on the CoR blog and in Chapman’s Leatherby Libraries catalog.

CoR Content Analysis & Data Viz: A 60-Second Guide

Data scientists and graphic designers wield digital tools to illustrate and present information through data visualization, the visually engaging representation of information. Why use it? Data viz “helps the human eye perceive huge amounts of data in an understandable way” (Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2013, p. 1).

The CoR infographic for this blog post was created using Canva, a free graphic design tool. For data analysis, CoR program information and reviews were compiled for content analysis via Google Sheets, a free spreadsheet tool. Check out the CoR raw data here for a behind-the-scenes look at the content analysis process.

For more info on data visualization, skim this quick Research Starter article available through Chapman’s Leatherby Libraries Discover! search interface.

Happy reading!