Chapter 250: Reading America’s Story Together

Chapter 250: Reading America’s Story Together is a community book club that explores the American Revolution through shared reading, discussion, and film. The adult group, open to participants ages nineteen and older, will meet on Tuesday, February 24th, at 5:00 p.m. at the Granville Branch, with a virtual option available via Zoom.

This month’s selection is “Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America,” by Steven Waldman. In Founding Faith, Waldman debunks myths from both the left and the right about America’s religious origins, revealing how the Founders crafted a new model of liberty that protected faith by keeping government out of it. Through vivid accounts from the colonies to the early presidencies, he shows how this delicate balance between belief and freedom shaped the nation.

Before the discussion, participants will watch a 26-minute preview from the upcoming 2025 PBS documentary “American Revolution,” by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein, and David Schmidt. The preview explores religion and religious diversity in the 18th century, offering insight into how faith helped shape the nation’s early history.

Copies of the book will be available at the Granville Branch beginning in January. For more information, please contact the Library at 815-339-2038. To participate via Zoom, please register via Zoom: https://shorturl.at/L6uCA.