Borrowing a page from book clubs' popularity

The idea came to them casually, while the teachers sat around marveling at the sudden popularity of book clubs. It's too bad, the instructors thought, that so many of their students on the Bellevue Community College campus had confessed they did not read for pleasure.

And so BCC Reads! was born. Three years later, the college campus has embraced three books — one each year — and used them to take students and staff on a journey that reaches beyond the typical academic experience.

What started as an idea to get more students interested in reading has become a cornerstone program of the college's Center for Liberal Arts. The BCC Reads! mission is to stimulate interdisciplinary learning, encourage a sense of community and help students immerse themselves in new cultural or social experiences.

Each year the book is incorporated into dozens of courses across various disciplines, from science to speech to literature.

Monday, while many people spend Valentine's Day pursuing that perfect romantic moment, students at BCC will have a Day of Remembrance, coinciding with this year's book, for those who spent years of their lives in Japanese internment camps during World War II.

The daylong event, with films and discussions, is one of several this year tied to "When the Emperor Was Divine" by Julie Otsuka, about one Japanese-American family's experience.

"You study what it means to be human. You push the barriers. You challenge the notion of the status quo," said M. Lee Buxton, a speech-communication instructor who helped start the program. "We want the books to take the students out of their own experience."

Last year's book was the most controversial so far, "On the Rez" by Ian Frazier, a white man's account of the Oglala Sioux living on South Dakota's Pine Ridge Reservation. The book forced students and teachers to consider the question, "Who has the right to talk about another's culture?" explained Diane Douglas, executive director of the Center for Liberal Arts.

The first book was Dava Sobel's "Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time," which raised modern-day questions about globalization, trade issues and the Internet, said Douglas.

Other schools, cities and libraries, like the Seattle Public Library, have shaped mass reading programs around a single book. But BCC goes beyond in its scope and in how it has helped students, who range from teenagers to seniors, find common understanding, teachers say.

This year's theme of Japanese internment, for example, "isn't just a historical issue. It's a tool to open up a personal topic," said Douglas. The book, which explores issues of civil liberties, family dynamics and economics, has encouraged some of BCC's many immigrant students to tell their own stories. That has helped native students and teachers understand some of the experiences the immigrants have been through, she said.

It has also helped students and staff connect to the outside community. For example, during the first quarter they learned that more than 300 residents from Bellevue were sent to internment camps. Next month, teachers will go Bainbridge Island as part of the program's teacher-education component to meet former internees and bring their stories back to students.

Students who aren't enrolled in a course using the book can still do an individual project — a painting, a multimedia exhibit, a piece of creative writing — inspired by the book's theme, and they are eligible for tuition scholarships. A highlight of each year is a visit by the author. This year's author will visit May 4.

The school has received national and local grants to help fund the program, and other colleges, including Shoreline Community College, have asked for advice to design their own programs.

Selecting the books is not easy, because the choice has to be able to relate to so many different disciplines, said Scott Bessho, an English instructor who helps organize the program.

A committee begins with about 30 books and, over three months, reads them all and whittles down the list. There are now five finalists for next year's selection, which will be announced at the end of February, said Douglas.

Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704 or nsinger@seattletimes.com