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Children’s is embarking on an ambitious new reading program in which all employees are encouraged to read the same book simultaneously, producing a collective reading experience. The inaugural book for this program, called Children’s Reads Together, is Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel The Namesake. The program aims to bring employees together while exploring another culture through literature.
“There are so many people interested in literature here,” says Children’s librarian Alison Clapp, MLS. “We thought this would be a great way to unite people over common themes, and promote interaction among those who might not normally interact.” The Namesake is a novel about South Asian-Indian immigrants who move to the United States. The book examines what it’s like to be an immigrant, and highlights the struggle to navigate between cultures with social, religious and ideological differences. Clapp says that many employees at Children’s can relate to the immigrant experience, no matter what ethnicity or culture they belong to.
Books that introduce readers to a complex view of another culture can help people question their own assumptions and build bridges of understanding, says Charlotte Harrison, JD, MPH, MTS, clinical ethicist in the Office of Ethics, which is collaborating on the program. “Literature can help us understand the experience of our colleagues, patients and families,” she says. “Everyone brings a different perspective.”
Children’s Reads Together was inspired by the successful annual Diversity Training Through Literature Fishbowl Grand Rounds, during which clinicians from Psychiatry, Psychology and Social Work participate in panel discussions about how race and/or ethnicity play into a certain novel’s story line. “The popularity of the Fishbowl has increased each year, as it’s weaved its way through the hospital,” says Fishbowl creator Jessica Henderson Daniel, PhD, ABPP, senior associate and director of Training in Psychology and associate director of the Leadership Education in Adolescent Health program. Participants discuss how the literature approaches and represents values, beliefs, relationships, loss and assimilation—themes that everyone can relate to. But because it’s a one-day event and geared toward faculty, residents, fellows and interns, only a limited number of people could get involved. The Namesake will be read for both Children’s Reads Together and the Fishbowl, and there will be five events throughout May to discuss the book.
Soundhari Balaguru, PhD, clinical psychologist at Children’s Hospital Neighborhood Partnership, who is reading the novel, points out that each medical interaction is a human interaction, and that separating the medicine and human contact can be distancing. “Because people are coming to us for help, we can often see them as their illness,” she says. “To intervene effectively, and get patients on board with treatment and compliance, we need to connect with them as a whole person.”
For Daniel, the appeal of community reading programs is the deep connection that is formed among participants. “These discussions bring us together,” she says. “It’s another type of glue.”
Library Book Group
These are two sessions of general discussion of the book. Stop by and talk about your favorite passages, themes or anything that crosses your mind.
May 7, 7:30 to 8:30 a.m., and noon to 1 p.m., AV room, Children’s Library
Fishbowl
Sanjay Gulati, MD, psychiatrist, and Manju Vaccher, PhD, psychologist, will talk about the psychosocial issues of The Namesake. Everyone is welcome. May 13, 10 to 11 a.m., Enders Auditorium
Literature and Medicine Group
This group discusses several short stories from Jhumpa Lahiri’s first book, Interpreter of Maladies. Everyone is welcome.
May 14, 3 to 4 p.m., Gamble Room, Children’s Library
Taste of India
Stop by for an Indian food demonstration by Children’s head chef, Jim Boyd. May 18, 4 to 5 p.m., Gamble Room, Children’s Library
Panel discussion
The panel discussion will be similar to the Fishbowl, but with Children’s psychiatry and psychology staff, including Soundhari Balguru, PhD.
May 27, 4 to 5 p.m., Gamble Room, Children’s Library
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