The MPS in Publishing program at the George Washington University is launching the GW Publishing Book Club, a space where publishing students, alumni, faculty, and publishing community members will read and discuss titles on the history of the book, the history of publishing, and similar topics. The book club involves no grades, no fees (of course), and is designed for general knowledge, fun, networking, and community building.

Members of the Association of University Presses (AUPresses), the Library Publishing Coalition (LPC), the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP), and other publishing professionals are invited to join.

For our first book club selection, we have chosen (via a survey) the following title:

“Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge,” by Richard Ovenden, Harvard University Press, Nov. 2020.

For more about this title, to purchase or check out from your library, see:
Publisher listing: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674241206
Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/burning-the-books-a-history-of-the-deliberate-destruction-of-knowledge/9780674241206
WorldCat (find it at your library): https://www.worldcat.org/title/burning-the-books-a-history-of-the-deliberate-destruction-of-knowledge
Audiobook on Hoopla: https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/13567593
Audiobook on Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/audiobook/474066701

Please use this sign up form if you would like to be a member of the GW Publishing Book Club.

We intend to meet twice to discuss this book—once in late November/early December, midway through the book, and again in late January 2022, to discuss the entire book.

There were several other books under consideration that were also of interest in our survey, so we have included a few titles on the form for your input on our Spring 2022 Book Club selection, as well as a space to add other titles to consider.

We will meet virtually, with a possible in person meeting for people in Washington, D.C. We will also provide a brief Code of Conduct for all members.

We will endeavor, if feasible, to invite the author to join us for a meeting, but this is not guaranteed.

Book club committee: Amber Avila, John Broskey, Haley Cowans, Casey Green