Lector is the Latin word for “reader.” In ancient times and throughout the Middle Ages, a lector was responsible for reading aloud sacred scriptures to the people. Lectors are important participants in many religious ceremonies today as a vessel by which knowledge and truth is shared. The practice of lectorship extends past the religious realm. Many intellectual and academic institutions share in the dissemination of knowledge and opinion via the oration of the written word. In this way, book clubs are natural extensions of lectorship, where in all members of the club become lectors or “readers.”

The mission of Lector: A Virtual Book Club is to continue the tradition of the communal sharing of knowledge and opinions and to extend this tradition to the Twenty-First Century’s new frontier, the electronic reading community.

The book club is part of an ongoing research project jointly conducted by The Pennsylvania State University Department of English and the University Libraries. Participants of this research include students of selected sections of Freshman Rhetoric and Composition (ENGL 015A) and fifteen undergraduate interns.

We welcome members of the virtual community to participate along with the students in the academic discussion of selected texts and share their experiences using electronic readers.

We will be reading three books.  The schedule for these readings is posted on the Schedule page.  These books are Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, and The Filter Bubble by Eli Prariser.

Do you have questions, comments, suggestions, or other feedback?  Let us know.