Every year, the school assigns a mandatory summer reading. And, every year, some students will annotate every page, while others only read the first couple of lines. I always hear people saying (myself included) that summer reads are chronically “boring” and “repetitive.” However, despite regular complaints, to the best of my knowledge, nothing has been done to improve the reader’s experience. As students are the ones required to read, analyze, and discuss these books, we should take part in choosing the summer reading.
The main question I have about summer reading is one of intention: is the point of a summer reading book to teach the community about something new? Is it to provoke potentially thoughtful discussions? Or, is it simply to entertain the readers? I think the selected book should aim to do all of these things, thus, putting the goals of contemporary relevance, intrigue, critical thinking, introspection, and retrospection at the forefront of the selection process. Together, students and faculty can make a realistic assessment of what the campus needs, and wants, to read.
Currently, the summer reading book is selected by a committee of teachers. Potential books are proposed to the committee — typically by teachers — read by its members, and eventually narrowed down to a few finalists. The committee then has to reach out to the authors to determine their availability and willingness to come visit Choate. I propose that students should have the opportunity to present books to the committee through a form that includes a few basic questions pertaining to why they believe the book is a good selection. Each year, there should be a theme for summer reading to inspire both student and faculty proposals and ensure that over the course of their Choate career, students read a diverse selection of books.
The first step to motivating students to engage in an activity that takes away from the leisure of their summer is by including them in the process. Whether it’s picking from a short list of books or encouraging more forums for open dialogue, Choate should allow students a platform to partake in the decision-making process, ultimately keeping students more engaged and eager to participate.
