Would you like to learn more about leadership and education issues, but find that time is lacking?  This is the second of a series of book review sessions we are doing this semester.  Three diverse books will be reviewed in this session, so take a few minutes from your day to enjoy listening to members of our College community describe the books they have been reading.  You should be able to take something from the presentations, and if a book appeals to you, you can follow-up by reading it yourself.  The Library will purchase copies of the books for checkout as well as provide a display of related works.

• The Leadership Challenge by Barry Posner and James Kouzes

Reviewed by Cecelia Yoder, Acting Dean of Social Sciences

This book addresses an issue that the authors uncovered in the course of doing research on ordinary people who achieved high levels of leadership excellence.  Their basic premise is that leadership is not the domain of a charismatic few but is potentially accessible to all.  The five key practices that underlie exemplary leadership will be introduced briefly in this session.

• Literacy:  Reading the Word and the World by Paulo Freire and Donaldo Macedo

Reviewed by Mindie Dieu, Communications Lab Supervisor

Freire was a Brazilian educator who was imprisoned for his teaching of literacy as an empowerment tool for the poor.  He set up literacy programs in places like Guinea-Bissau and taught at Harvard for many years prior to his death in 1993.

• Good to Great and the Social Sectors:  Why Business Thinking Is Not the Answer by Jim Collins

Reviewed by Stu Harvey, Director of Strategic Planning
“This is perhaps the single most important point in all of Good to Great.  Greatness is not a function of circumstance.  Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.”