About the “Books We Read” Project

Welcome, on behalf of the entire Books We Read team.  

Books We Read aims to connect readers with the right book at the right time. We believe in the healing power of guided reading, also called bibliotherapy, through reading, discussing, and relating to texts relevant to the reader in a difficult phase of their lives. Although merely “accidental bibliotherapists,” librarians play an integral part in this very private and internal process via recommending books from their collection.

This project has been evolving ever since we discovered that books on the shelves academic libraries can also serve diverse purposes other than reading for classes, writing papers, and citing scholarly resources.

• Students confirmed during their library sessions and visits that most of them read in their spare time. The large variety of books, topics, genres, and languages Rutgers students read never fails to surprise us.
• As librarians call it, “recreational reading” material has become an important part of the collection in academic libraries, whether separated from the main collection or integrated and shelved with other titles.
• “What’s the last book you read?” is also a popular question at job interviews to find out about you as a person — and “none since high school” is not an inspiring answer! It’s never too early to start preparing.

Follow the current project on the project timeline page.