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Reflecting on the Magic of the 2025 Community Read
Each year, the IRRC launches a Community Read that invites Greater Lansing to come together in joy, unity, and shared spirit through books that spark conversation and connection. Announced each June and culminating in a series of fall events, the Community Read weaves neighbors, families, and partners into a collective experience of learning and celebration. Below is a look back at our previous selections and the stories that brought our community together.
If you’d like materials, discussion guides, or other resources related to any of our featured books, we’d love to share them with you. We hope these stories continue to be read, discussed, and enjoyed long after their spotlight in the Community Read.
This year’s Community Read brought neighbors together across Greater Lansing to explore The Immigrant Advantage by Claudia Kolker and In Our Garden by Pat Zietlow Miller—books celebrating connection, belonging, and shared traditions.
Through book circles, story sessions, and community events leading up to Kolker’s author visit, participants discovered that reading—like community—grows stronger when shared.
Check out this quick recap video from the 2025 Community Read!
Author's Book Launch to Lansing Readers!
These powerful books—one narrative nonfiction for teens and adults, the other a beautifully illustrated children’s book—celebrate the strengths and wisdom that communities bring with them and nurture. They highlight how traditions enrich lives, strengthen neighborhoods, and create new possibilities.
See you next year and in the meantime, please remember if you’d like materials, discussion guides, or other resources related to any of our featured books, we’d love to share them with you. We hope these stories continue to be read, discussed, and enjoyed long after theirspotlight in the Community Read.
Reading Throughout the year: Global Voices Book Circle
The IRRC Book Circle meets throughout the year to explore stories of refugees and immigrants. Through shared reading and discussion, we highlight the small and significant acts of welcome that transform lives, deepen empathy, and inspire action in both arriving and receiving communities.