Is Rockingham reading?

Rockingham Reads! is an initiative by the Rockingham County library to get people to read and to offer works that will lead to a healthy debate and discussion about a variety of important issues, race and cultural differences among them.
It’s a shame that so few people are participating this year.
Robert Griffiths, an associate professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, spoke about this year’s book, “The Kite Runner,” at the Mayodan library last week. Two people – our reporter and the librarian -showed up for the discussion.
The best-selling novel,” by Khaled Hosseini, explores the friendship of two young boys that spans a lifetime set against the backdrop of war torn Afghanistan. The book is fictional, but it reads like a memoir about Amir, a boy from Kabul who is haunted by his betrayal of his childhood friend, Hassan. The novel explores the fall of the monarchy in Afghanistan through the Soviet invasion and the subsequent exodus of refugees to Pakistan followed by the Taliban’s takeover.
A movie version of the book will be shown 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday in the Rockingham Theatre in Reidsville.
Griffiths, despite the lack of attendance, was gracious, and his talk was compelling.
Last year, Rockingham Reads! highlighted Tim Tyson’s “Blood Done Sign My Name,” a real-life account of racial tensions in Oxford, N.C. For whatever reason, more people took part in the discussions held at the local libraries.
What’s encouraging is that almost 200 copies of the book have been checked out from the county’s libraries. The attendance for the discussion is still disappointing, however, given that library officials have scheduled several college professors to talk about “The Kite Runner,” which is important because it offers a perspective on a country that has been home for the past several years to thousands of U.S. troops.
The library hopes to attract a crowd to the reading program’s finale, which will be held at Rockingham Community College on April 10 at 7 p.m. Dr. Jeff Jones, an assistant professor of history at the UNC-G will discuss the book.
We should all participate.