The Joplin Public Library (JPL) would like to thank the community for the success of another Joplin Reads Together program! This year’s selection was The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. Published in 2025, The Correspondent is Evans’ debut novel. This word-of-mouth hit is a New York Times Bestseller, was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Andrew Carnegie Medal. It has been named a Best Book of the Year by: NPR, The Washington Post, Boston Globe, Elle, Christian Science Monitor, and She Reads. The novel is an epistolary novel about life, grief, joy, and finding peace with oneself, no matter the stage of life.
The stats for this year’s program are as follows.
Participation
The Joplin Reads Together webpage had 668 users and the program’s Facebook group had 268 members.
Circulation
The Correspondent was checked out 73 times, audiobooks 83 times, e-books 59 times, and book kits five times. The JPL Lucky Day was checked out 18 times while the number of copies of this year’s selection sold by The Friends of the Joplin Public Library totaled 80.
Library Events
During the program, 621 participants attended the ten events that the Library hosted, with the biggest turnouts being for the plant swap event and author visit.
Author Visit
This final, signature event of the Joplin Reads Together program featured an author visit and book signing with Virginia Evans. Turnout for the event reached the highest number of all the events with 340 attendees. Feedback for the event, and the program in general, was excellent with some of the participants saying:
- “So glad you offered the author visit. There aren’t many of these in our area!”
- “This was amazing. Keep doing it!”
- “Thank you for this. I thoroughly enjoyed it!”
- “This felt so inclusive.”
Community Engagement
The Joplin Reads Together program was featured in different news programs and across local mediums. The Library staff made appearances on Living Well, Good Morning Four States, and was featured in The Joplin Globe.
The Library also introduced a new way for the community to help promote this program through business collaboration, where local businesses and organizations took staged photos of their staff reading The Correspondent.
Thank You!
Thank you to everyone who participated in Joplin Reads Together!
About Joplin Public Library:
Since 1902, JPL has been fulfilling the information needs of citizens of Joplin and the surrounding community. JPL opens tomorrow’s doors today through diverse opportunities to learn, create, explore, and have fun.
Reference:
Joplin Public Library
417.623.7953
joplinpubliclibrary.org
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