UCSB Reads

About UCSB Reads

Moby-Duck book coverUCSB Reads is a common reading experience that engages the campus and the broader Santa Barbara community in conversations about a key topic while reading the same book.  The program was begun in 2007 by the UCSB Library and UCSB Executive Vice Chancellor Gene Lucas, and immediately won that year’s prestigious John Cotton Dana Award given by the American Library Association.  Lucas remains very supportive of the program: “From the beginning, the goal of UCSB Reads has been to encourage a common reading and intellectual experience for our community and to stimulate discussion of important interdisciplinary issues.  It unifies the campus and provides opportunities for our faculty to go out into the community to share their knowledge and expertise.”  You can support this vital, dynamic initiative by making an online gift.  Please designate "UCSB Reads" in the memo field when making your gift.

2012 Program

The theme for UCSB Reads 2012 was Making an Impact.  What's Yours? The book chosen for discussion was Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them, by Donovan Hohn. With the help of our sponsors, the UCSB Library distributed 2,500 free copies of the book to UCSB students in January 2012. With this year's program completed, we are now working to select the 2013 UCSB Reads book.

UCSB Reads Sites From Previous Years

  • 2011 
  • Theme:  Our Bodies, Our Cells: Exploring Identity
  • Book:  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot
  • 2010 
  • Theme: Beyond Borders: the Human Experience
  • Book:  Enrique's Journey, by Sonia Nazario
  • 2009 
  • Theme:  Ethics. Beyond Ourselves.
  • Book:  Ethics for the New Millennium, by the Dalai Lama
  • 2008 
  • Theme: Globalization and Global Citizenship.
  • Book:  The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: an Economist Examines the Markets, Power and Politics of World Trade, by Pietra Rivoli
  • 2007 
  • Theme: Global Warming, Science & Society.
  • Book:   Field Notes From a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change, by Elizabeth Kolbert