The Ventura County Library is pleased to announce our One County, One Book community reading title selection for 2024, Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O'Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People by Tracy Kidder.
From the official description, “In Rough Sleepers, Kidder tells the story of Dr. Jim O’Connell, a gifted man who invented a community of care for a city’s unhoused population, including those who sleep on the streets—the ‘rough sleepers.’ After Jim O’Connell graduated from Harvard Medical School and was nearing the end of his residency at Massachusetts General, the hospital’s chief of medicine made a proposal: Would he defer a prestigious fellowship and spend a year helping to create an organization to bring health care to homeless citizens? That year turned into O’Connell’s life’s calling. Tracy Kidder spent five years following Dr. O’Connell and his colleagues as they work with thousands of homeless patients, some of whom we meet in this illuminating book.”
Our One County, One Book programming will take place during the month of September, culminating with the second annual Ventura County Celebration of Books featuring the subject of Rough Sleepers, Dr. Jim O’Connell. This event will take place on Saturday, October 12, on the campus of California State University, Channel Islands. Copies of Rough Sleepers will be available to borrow at your local Ventura County Library branch.
Please check this page for additional updates as we develop the 2024 year’s program, including information on sponsors, book discussions, and other exciting events.
