Linn Area Reads is a project initiated by the Metro Library Network to encourage all residents of Linn County to read and discuss the same book. Each spring, a committee of collaborating organizations, including the Cedar Rapids Public Library, Hiawatha Public Library, Marion Public Library, and Barnes & Noble Booksellers, along with community literary representatives, selects a new title and organizes programs and discussions around its theme. The goal of the committee is to promote reading to all citizens of the county!

2019 Committee Members include:
Amber Mussman, Community Relations Manager at the Cedar Rapids Public Library
Erin Zaputil, Operations Manager at the Hiawatha Public Library
Marta Peterman, Adult Programming Coordinator at the  Hiawatha Public Library
Dawn Cline, Assistant Director, Marion Public Library
Amanda Zhorne, Iowa BIG
Kevin Delecki, Programming Manager at the Cedar Rapids Public Library
Madeline Jarvis, Adult Services Coordinator at the Marion Public Library
Dawn Cline, Outreach Coordinator at the Marion Public Library
Sue Gerth, Customer Experience & Access Services Coordinator at the Marion Public Library

Books chosen in past years include:

2018   Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue

2017   A Wrestling Life, by Dan Gable

2016   The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

2015   One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey

2014   Running Away to Home by Jennifer Wilson

2013    Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

2012    Righteous Porkchop by Nicholette Hahn Niman

2011    Irreplaceable by Stephen Lovely

2010    Population: 485 by Michael Perry

2009    Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

2008    A Lucky American Childhood by Paul Engle

2007    The Palace Thief by Ethan Canin

2006    Change Me into Zeus’ Daughter by Barbara Robinette Moss

2005    Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

2004    Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich

2003    Plainsong by Kent Haruf