The following themes are currently available for libraries participating in the Let’s Talk About It program. Some themes are new, and many have been updated. Expand each box to find a brief description of the theme as well as links to the theme essay, reading list, discussion questions, and publicity materials.

We understand that every community has different interests, tastes, and preferences. Not every theme will resonate with every community, and we trust that local libraries know best what will spark interest and participation in their area. We recommend that local LTAI coordinators review the full set of theme materials when considering which theme(s) to request for their library.

This theme focuses on the unique perspectives, styles, and formats of writing that have emerged in the new millennium. In general, this theme will focus on exploring form, voice, style, and expression and how these elements enhance, challenge, or repurpose how we tell our stories and how we confront the issues that we face living (and reading) in the 21st Century. This theme is less concerned with exploring or addressing specific issues, though participants may discern patterns or trends in the types of issues being explored as a natural result of the materials that are included. By engaging with this theme, program participants should:

  1. Gain a deeper understanding of, and appreciation for the various forms of writing, as well as the craft and art of writing.
  2. Understand how the author’s choices influence the reader’s participation with and interpretation of the material.
  3. Challenge themselves to explore forms, styles, voices, or perspectives they may not normally read.
  4. Evaluate and understand how writing has adapted and changed in the new millennium.

Theme Materials for Form & Fluidity: Writing in the New Millennium

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)

This topic was selected as one of our new themes based on feedback from libraries, scholars, and the theme development committee. Race and racism have been prevalent topics in the news, on our social media feeds, and sometimes even at our dinner tables. But talking about the subject can often feel fraught or uncomfortable. This theme introduces readers to the topic of race and racism through the literary lens of first-hand lived experiences (real or fictional). This theme is intended as an introduction to the topic, and as such the readings and discussion are designed to explore foundational questions and create the building blocks for meaningful conversations about a difficult subject. By engaging with this theme, program participants should:

  1. Connect with individual stories and gain a deeper understanding of how issues of race and racism impact the daily lives of modern, every-day people.
  2. Expand their comfort zone in reading stories by and about marginalized groups or by and about people who may belong to a different racial group than themselves.
  3. Understand how the topics of race and racism are relevant today, that these issues do not exist only in the past.
  1. Build a shared foundation for discussing race and racism and learn how to overcome initial discomfort in approaching the topic.

Theme Materials for Starting the Conversation: Race & Racism in America

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)

This theme has been updated with several new titles and refreshed to include issues relevant to our current moment.

The modern rural West continues to draw immigrants who seek its wide-open spaces, beauty, and promise of independence. An array of issues continue to complicate life here. Land-use and conservation debates divide neighbors; urban sprawl threatens to gobble up the very wild spaces that immigrants sought. The West is no freer of prejudice, domestic abuse, or poverty of finances or spirit than any other region. And yet contemporary Westerners still typically define themselves in terms of the landscape around them, weaving its possibility, openness, and wildness into their stories of family and self.

Participants will sometimes examine hard questions and difficult truths and ultimately appreciate how today’s West has been shaped by centuries of mythology and migration. Participants will gain new cultural perspectives about their home and also recognize their friends, neighbors, and themselves.

Theme Materials for Living in the Modern Rural West

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)

This theme has been updated with several new titles and refreshed to include issues relevant to our current moment.

Biographies and autobiographies, perpetually popular forms of writing, allow us to observe a writer confronting themselves in the life of another, exploring the limits of memory and the connections between past and present. Moments of spiritual insight, the loss of a loved one, childhood traumas—these sharply recalled kernels become the core, reverberating throughout the entire work. To read a biography or an autobiography is to read another human’s struggle to understand themselves; thus creating an opportunity for readers to contemplate their own lives as well.

Theme Materials for Biographies & Autobiographies

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)

This theme has been updated with several new titles and refreshed to include issues relevant to our current moment.

Formerly “Pulitzer Prizewinners” this theme has been updated and expanded to include a variety of award-winning books beyond just the Pulitzer. Participants should expect to gain an appreciation of different literary genres and the history of different literary awards.  Participants will further be exposed to the great writers of our time and have a chance to discuss the reasons why a title was awarded.

Theme Materials for Prize Winners

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)

This theme has been updated with several new titles and refreshed to include issues relevant to our current moment.

This theme explores the what ifs, the whys, and the why nots of science and technology from a humanities perspective. What are the personal, social, environmental, and ethical implications of our modern advancements? This theme will be updated and modernized with new nonfiction titles published in the last 10 years since it was first developed, as well as fiction titles that explore the implications of science and technology through a literary lens.

Theme Materials for The Humanity of Science and Technology

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)

This theme has been updated with several new titles and refreshed to include issues relevant to our current moment.

This theme, formerly titled “Other Americas,” explores how America has always been diverse, and its diversity has been a source of richness as well as a source of friction and conflict in our history. We see many signs of fragmentation: debate over school curricula, disputes over immigration, ethnic rivalries, and the increasing use of violence to resolve conflicts. We also recognize the need to examine what unites us as a country. In a nation comprised of many divergent groups and beliefs, where can we find common ground in a shared vision of what it means to be an American?

Theme Materials for American Voices

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)

Survey results are in, and this popular theme remains the clear favorite for libraries and scholars alike. This theme remains largely unchanged for the time being, but we hope to add new titles in the future as they “age” into the cannon.

In a world changing at an incredibly rapid rate, in which reading itself seems threatened, books which have stimulated and sustained readers for decades are in danger of being lost in the buzz of our audio-video, sound-bite, multi-media culture. Many readers today doubt that writers from the past have anything relevant to say in the fast-moving present, but we believe that the great classic American writers still have a lot to say. And some of the classics resonate more now than they did when they were written. This theme aims to give these historically renowned authors the opportunity to present their message as it pertains to the modern world. Our method is to approach these classic texts from two opposite, but mutually reinforcing points of view: as stories of individuals, as well as stories of culture.

While the content for this theme remains the same, the program materials have been updated with refreshed visuals.

Theme Materials for American Classics

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)

Voted a favorite among libraries in our 2021 survey, this light-hearted theme is a great option for reconnecting to our childhoods. This theme highlights the differences and similarities between generations and suggests ways of increasing understanding, empathy, and connection by offering opportunities to explore timeless issues relating to different stages of the human life cycle.

While the content for this theme remains the same, the program materials have been updated with refreshed visuals.

Theme Materials for Connecting Generations

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)

Voted a favorite among scholars in our 2021 survey, this theme was developed as part of a special project to highlight the literature of Idaho and the Intermountain West. “Tough Paradise” explores the relationships between place and human psychology and values. Representing various periods in regional history, various cultural groups, and various values, the books in this theme highlight the variety of ways that humans may respond to the challenging landscape of Idaho and the northern Intermountain West. This theme differs from “The Modern Rural West” in that it includes a historical perspective and focuses more specifically on Idaho, the northwest, and Idaho authors.

While the content for this theme remains the same, the program materials have been updated with refreshed visuals.

Theme Materials for Tough Paradise

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)

Another favorite amongst libraries in our 2021 survey, this theme remains relevant as one of our largest generations (the baby boomers) enter their golden years. Additionally, Idaho has experienced a rapid influx of people, many of whom are retirees, moving to the state in the last five years.

“Growing Older, Growing Wiser” addresses the paradox of aging. On the one hand is the fear and inconvenience of growing older, on the other is the revealed wisdom and confidence of age. Each novel in this series speaks to the individuals who are part of the growing number of aging and elderly in this country as well as their family, friends, and caregivers. The Reading, reflection, and discussion presented in this series will help readers address issues such as how older generations are creating a new social structure, where and how they live, and how they relate to the rest of their family, community, and society.

While the content for this theme remains the same, the program materials have been updated with refreshed visuals.

Theme Materials for Growing Older, Growing Wiser

(some materials have been provided as Word documents so participating libraries can edit them as needed for use in their program)