Common Book Criteria

The following is the criteria for the Common Book selection:

• It encourages scholastic intellectual development for new students.
• It is compatible with Otterbein's mission.
• It is appropriate for a wide variety of disciplines and classes.
• It is by a significant contemporary author who can visit campus.
• It is not a book read in high school.
• It is challenging but not overwhelming to entering first-year students.
• It provides potential for hands-on experiences or service learning.
• It will sustain discussion for a year.

Selection of the Common Book

A committee of faculty, staff, and students select from over fifty books each year in an effort to find a significant contemporary work to read the next year. Members of the committee meet weekly to discuss the books nominated for the next Common Book, and then continue to meet to prepare the introduction of the book to the campus community.

If you enjoy reading and are interested in joining the committee, contact Jennifer Bechtold, Co-Chair of the Common Book Committee, at (614) 823-3202. Send your suggestions or reviews of the books to the committee via Amy Parsons.

COMMON BOOK UNIVERSITY WEB PAGE