“It is difficult to properly express our gratitude to Maryland Humanities for the help and support that we received through the grant-making process and through the project…The support of (Maryland Humanities) was not in funding alone. By including a spot about the initiative in (their) Humanities Connection program on WYPR, Maryland Humanities did much to help promote our initiative and alert the general public about the program that we were running in the early months of the fall.”

“I want to thank you for opening the door to writing about reading… By providing students with the opportunity to write about a genre and a book that is of interest, they are more willing to open up, get personal, and write to their full potential. It is amazing what children are able to produce when they enjoy the task at hand.”

“Very interesting program. I had not heard of or read any of the stories; I would like to read them now.”

“[I liked] witnessing three leaders in American thought discuss important issues in illuminating ways.”

“All of [this event] was wonderful! I enjoyed Ms. Ifill’s facilitation very much! I enjoyed Taylor Branch. I hadn’t heard him before; he was very refreshing. Ms. Wilkerson was fabulous. I appreciate her candor and passion.”

“My students have been removed from their home schools. Right away, they made comments about the diction of the text, how it seemed realistic to them and they pointed out words they would have changed. We talked about word choice, slang, etc. I had 2 instances where students were excited to see me because they had events similar to the book happen to them and they needed to tell someone. They want to know how to change things. […] These kids typically failed English class or were chronic non-attenders or were removed before they came here. They are excited about reading a book! Teacher librarian win!”

“The topic, readings and discussions have encouraged me to consider other ways of interacting with patients and families in the context of culture, lifestyle and economics.”

“[One Maryland One Book] is wonderful; enlightening, explorative, innovative, [and] educational.”

“[My favorite part of the tour was] visiting the Peabody Library and getting a few minutes with the librarian there who showed us a few interesting books from their collection.”

I enjoyed it very much and I learned quite a lot. I think there is a lot that can be learned from these experiences and I think this could be a positive experience for the veterans also.