Along with other members of the Penguin Random House Common Reads Advisory Board, Paula Patch, associate director of the Common Reading Program and First-Year Foundations in the Elon Core Curriculum and associate teaching professor of English, facilitated a half-day workshop on launching and sustaining a Common Reading program at the annual Conference on the First-Year Experience in Seattle in February.
Paula Patch, associate teaching professor in English and associate director of the Common Reading Program and First-Year Foundations in the Elon Core Curriculum, facilitated a half-day, pre-conference workshop at the annual Conference on the First-Year Experience in Seattle, Washington, in February.
The workshop, titled Launching and Sustaining a Common Reading Program that Works, was facilitated by members of the Penguin Random House Common Reads advisory board, all of whom lead Common Reading programs at colleges and universities across the United States.
Workshop topics included the evolving nature of Common Reading programs, making a case for launching or sustaining a program, program models and logistics, title selection, program assessment, and time for feedback and mentoring of attendees.
Patch joined the Penguin Random House Common Reads Advisory Board in 2025. The board meets regularly to identify titles and topics for Common Reading programs that choose Penguin Random House titles.