“Is Google making us stupid?” Nicholas Carr asked, in a celebrated Atlantic Monthly cover story. Carr delves further into the question in his book The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains, the selected title for “Libraries Read: 1 Book.”

MCLS invited library staff across Indiana and Michigan to place votes on one of four titles to select one book that we will all read and discuss together for professional development. Nicholas Carr’s book captured the most votes. In The Shallows, he explores the net’s intellectual and cultural consequences.

MCLS encourages library staff to read the book throughout June and July, then join us in a live Twitter chat about the book on Thursday, July 21 at 2pm Eastern at #MCLSchat. Regional discussions will also be announced and take place in early August.

According to Randy Dykhuis, MCLS Executive Director, “During 2014, MCLS conducted a series of community conversations with librarians throughout Indiana and Michigan, utilizing the tools from the Harwood Institute for Public Innovation. The desire to have discussions in many formats, and to communicate with one another outside of our silos was a recurring theme. By reading one book together, we aim to create deeper connections among libraries that span geographic and other boundaries.”

For more information about “Libraries Read: 1 Book”, contact Michelle Bradley at Bradleym@mcls.org, visit our Facebook page or read our blog.