The Jones Library is holding its eleventh On the Same Page community reading program, this year featuring the novel Olga Dies Dreaming by author Xochitl Gonzalez.  A variety of programs is being offered to enrich the reading experience of this title and to encourage dialog about the themes the book presents.  According to NPR, “This debut book is a gossipy, funny NYC novel with a multigenerational queer and straight cast of characters you feel like you know, layered on top of a Puerto Rican political and historical thriller [with] secrets, ethics, power, identity, activism, love, guilt, and healing.”

The following series of programs will be held during March at the Jones Library, and are inspired by topics and themes from the book.  The author event will be held at the Amherst Regional Middle School on Tuesday, March 28 at 7 pm. For complete program descriptions, visit the program’s webpage at http://www.joneslibrary.org/onthesamepage.

Schedule of Events:

Saturday, March 11 at 3:00 pm – Woodbury Room
Documentary Screening:  Landfall– Join us for a documentary that chronicles the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and the fraught relationship between the US and Puerto Rico.

Thursday, March 16 at 7:00 pm – Woodbury Room
Book Discussion of Olga Dies Dreaming – Join us for an in-depth discussion of our selected title, led by Jones Library librarian, Linda Wentworth.

Saturday, March 18 at 3:00 pm – Woodbury Room
Puerto Ricans Making the Valley Home – In this talk, Maria Cartagena addresses the migration of Puerto Ricans to Holyoke and throughout the Valley. She will answer questions like why Holyoke? Why the Valley? She will speak to the deep activist history of Puerto Ricans in the Valley, the desegregation of schools, the shift in the political climate, and making the Valley home.

Saturday, March 25 at 3:00 pm – Woodbury Room
Puerto Rico’s Past, Present, and Possible Futures – This brief presentation by Paul Schroeder Rodriguez will begin with an overview of Puerto Rico’s anticolonial movements under Spain and the United States, proceed with a summary of today’s political and cultural landscape, and conclude by considering how community-based organizations are testing and advancing decolonial futures for Puerto Ricans on the island and in the diaspora. 

Tuesday, March 28 at 7:00 pm – Amherst Regional Middle School Auditorium
On the Same Page …with Xochitl Gonzalez – Join us for this in-person author appearance as Xochitl Gonzalez speaks about her best-selling debut novel.  Books will be available for purchase and signing.