Center for the Book to reside at Salve’s Pell Center

The Rhode Island Center for the Book will operate from Salve Regina’s Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy beginning in January 2019.

Dedicated to promoting reading and celebrating community, the Center for the Book sponsors innovative programs each year. Their signature program Reading Across Rhode Island focuses statewide attention on one book each year, encouraging book discussions and providing thousands of books at no cost to schools and readers in order to spur the widest possible engagement.

“We are thrilled to provide the Rhode Island Center for the Book a new institutional home,” said Jim Ludes, vice president for public research and initiatives. “I first got to know the Center for the Book and its leader, Kate Lentz, several years ago. I was immediately impressed with the quality of their work and the impact they have across the state. We wanted to do more with them.”

For nearly 10 years, the Center for the Book has partnered with the Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services for a separate summer reading program – Kids Reading Across Rhode Island – focusing on elementary school-aged children. Other initiatives focus on a Library of Congress initiative to encourage young readers to write letters to their favorite authors. The Living Literature initiative produces live events that bring stories to life for audiences, and the Youth Poetry Ambassador is selected each year in conjunction with the Rhode Island Poet Laureate to encourage more young poets across the state.

“The missions of the Pell Center at Salve Regina University and the Rhode Island Center for the Book align so well and complement each other so completely, this was really a natural fit,” Lentz said.

While in residence at the Pell Center, the Center for the Book will remain an independent Rhode Island nonprofit corporation.