Definition for Civility:
- formal politeness & courtesy in behavior & speech
- polite remarks used in formal conversation
At a recent staff meeting I was introduced to Howard County Library System's (Columbia,
Maryland) and their focus on Civility.
"Choose Civility is an initiative of Howard County Library System and more than
125 alliance Partners to make Howard County a national model of respect,
consideration, empathy, and tolerance. " choosecivility.org/
IF we are what we eat, then perhaps we are what we read.....
In that case, here is a list of books from Choose Civility for a healthy, happy diet of Civility:
- Pride and Prjudice by Jane Austen
- The Little Giant of Aberdeenn County by Tiffany Baker
- People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (Book Discussion 2010)
- LIttle Bee by Chris Cleaver
- Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Sijie Dai (Book Discussion 2012)
- Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
- Still Alice by Lisa Genova
- Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh
- Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons
- Three Junes by Julie Glass
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
- Just Too Good to be True by E. Lynn Harris
- The Remains of the the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
- Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (Book Discussion 2009)
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Book Discussion 2017)
- The House on Fortune Street by Margot Livesey
- The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection by Alexander McCall Smith
- The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu
- The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
- The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
- When the Emperor Was Divine by Jullie Otsuke
- Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult
- Home by Marilynne Robinson
- Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
- The Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
- Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows (Book Discussion 2009)
- Testimony by Anita Shreve
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
- Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
- Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
- Digging to American by Anne Tyler
- My Father's Tears and Other Stories by John Updike
- Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (Book Discussion 2011)
- Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
- Additional book lists (for children, teens , the workplace), and other resources can be found on their website: choosecivility.org/materials-store/books/
Another gem is their Random Acts of Civility Calendar, with daily suggestions for small acts
of civility towards others and towards oneself.
A suggestion for last Thursday, September 7:
"Hide a positive message inside the next library book you return."
And for next week, on Monday, September 17th:
"Collect new socks and donate them to a homeless shelter."
And then there is Thursday, September 27:
"Practice gratitude."