This webinar is designed to help library staff, trustees and community discussion leaders plan a discussion of the 2018 All Iowa Reads (AIR) selection The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland by Dan Barry. We will be joined during the webinar by the author of our AIR selection who will talk about the book and be available to take questions.
About the Book
"In the tiny Iowa farm town of Atalissa, dozens of men, all with intellectual disability and all from Texas, lived in an old schoolhouse. Before dawn each morning, they were bussed to a nearby processing plant, where they eviscerated turkeys in return for food, lodging, and $65 a month. They lived in near servitude for more than thirty years, enduring increasing neglect, exploitation, and physical and emotional abuse—until state social workers, local journalists, and one tenacious labor lawyer helped these men achieve freedom.
Drawing on exhaustive interviews, Dan Barry dives deeply into the lives of the men, recording their memories of suffering, loneliness and fleeting joy, as well as the undying hope they maintained despite their traumatic circumstances. Barry explores how a small Iowa town remained oblivious to the plight of these men, analyzes the many causes for such profound and chronic negligence, and lays out the impact of the men’s dramatic court case, which has spurred advocates—including President Obama—to push for just pay and improved working conditions for people living with disabilities.
A luminous work of social justice, told with compassion and compelling detail, The Boys in the Bunkhouse is more than just inspired storytelling. It is a clarion call for a vigilance that ensures inclusion and dignity for all."
The AIR webinar elements include:
- Mini reviews of books that were AIR 2018 finalists
- Review of the criteria used to select The Boys in the Bunkhouse
- Resources available on the Iowa Center for the Book website:
- publicity materials
- tips on how to make your discussion successful
- availability of multiple copies to use for your discussion
- adding your upcoming program to the Iowa Center for the Book AIR Calendar of Events
- Dan Barry will provide an in-depth commentary about the story, introduce the characters, and identify topics and themes important to librarians planning their own discussions.
- Participant chat and questions throughout.
Please contact Helen Dagley at iacenterbook@iowa.gov if you have any questions. An archive of the webinar session will be available on the Iowa Center for the Book website for librarians who cannot attend the live session.
Register for this event in the CE Catalog