Short Attention Span
Book Club
Join the Sing Sing Prison Museum and Hudson Valley Books for Humanity for three sessions of the brand new reading experience called the Short Attention Span Book Club. We will meet at the bookstore every other month on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 1:30 PM.
This lunch time reading group is designed for less reading time, more discussion. We will be going in on tough topics, with particular attention to social and justice related themes. The program is designed to read little portions, and ideally be inspired to keep reading! Sing Sing Prison Museum shares stories of incarceration and reform, past and present, and brings people together to imagine and create a more just society, and the Hudson Valley Books for Humanity Bookstore strives for a balance between people, planet, and prosperity. In this lunchtime program, you will learn a bit about the Sing Sing Prison Museum and discuss the short readings.
Why Did We Abandon COVID-Era Aid?
On February 27, we’ll read Matthew Desmond’s recent article in the New York Review of Books (Jan. 18, 2024) - “Why Did We Abandon COVID-Era Aid?” - and the UCLA Law Covid Behind Bars Data Project
Sometimes the hard issues are easier in smaller doses. The Short Attention Span Book Club plans to pick short, but complex topics, readings with an eye toward issues relating to incarceration and justice, historic and now. With registration you will receive a short reading assignment, delivered digitally (think article length) a few days before we gather. People can also choose to arrive early to the gathering and read the piece 20 minutes before meeting (copies will be provided). The Short Attention Span Book Club is a nonpartisan event to foster open, inclusive, educational conversations about incarceration andsocial justice related topics; we will be civil and respect one another’s viewpoints.
This program is recommended for ages 15yrs and up, pre-registration is required. Limited to 25 people.
For information please email info@singsingprisonmuseum.org.
Click here to register for the February 27 program. Or visit the calendar at the SSPM website.
Future sessions:
Tuesday, April 23, 12:30-1:30 - Readings excerpt from An Inconvenient Cop: My Fight to Change Policing in America (2023) by Edwin Raymond with Jon Sternfeld and the arrest logs of NYS.
Tuesday, June 25, 12:30-1:30 - Reading excerpt from Orange-Collar Labor: Work and Inequality in Prison (2022) and an excerpt from the ACLU.