The goal of the Albemarle County Community Read Program is to invest in inclusive storytelling.

Working with our community partners, we choose books, reports, articles, and other readings that are representative of the diversity of our community. We hope these choices will “equip and inspire” our community, both adults and youth, to learn how to imagine more inclusive and equitable worlds. For our Spring 2022 Community Read, we have chosen We are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai as the title we read together during Women’s History Month.  
 
We know that almost 50% of the 26.6 million refugees worldwide are women and girls who face unique challenges during the displacement and resettlement process because of their gender identity, including the threat of sexual violence. We are Displaced is a compilation of the voices of some of these young girls and women from around the world who have been forced to make the impossible choice of leaving their whole lives behind to start over in a new place. We hope these stories of courage and resilience help us learn more about the challenges our immigrant and refugee neighbors face and overcome on a daily basis in this very community.  
 
Albemarle County continues to welcome and support refugee members in our community, not only because their contributions improve the quality of life for all of us, but because we strive to live up to our ideal of creating an inclusive community for all regardless of what they can do for us in return. We hope that by coming together and learning more about each other through storytelling, we can find ways to act and live up to our value of creating a more equitable and inclusive community where we can all thrive.

Book Locations

Copies of the book We Are Displaced are available to pick up at:

• JMRL branches

• Little Free Libraries at Albemarle County Parks:

  • Darden Towe Park -- by the playground
  • Charlotte Humphris Park --by the park kiosk
  • Chris Greene Lake -- by the trailhead closest to the park entrance
  • Preddy Creek Park -- by the trailhead
  • Simpson Park -- by the pavilion
  • Walnut Creek Park -- by the beach
  • Mint Springs Park -- in the upper parking lot
• Victory Hall in Scottsville
• University of Virginia Division for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion