Implementation of a multisession facilitated reading and discussion series at 40 venues involving twelve books on Muslim culture and the distribution of these books to an additional 200 venues.
The New York Council for the Humanities "Muslim Voices" program aims to create opportunities for conversations about the shared humanity of Muslim and non-Muslim peoples through book lists of high- quality texts with Muslim characters that highlight the diversity of Islamic cultures for teens and children aged 8 to 12. The book lists, developed with humanities scholars, will explore these commonalities through the universal humanities themes of courage, community, freedom, and faith that cross cultural, religious, and ethnic divides. To further support dialogue surrounding these themes, the Council will offer program grants, which will fund reading and discussion series using the "Muslim Voices" book lists, and book grants, which will provide copies of each book on the list to public and school libraries nationwide.