KU News Release

KU’s Audio-Reader contributes to statewide reading project

Gordon Parks' son, David, left, and Audio-Reader volunteer Bill Beningfield. David Parks recently visited Audio-Reader headquarters in support of the Kansas Reads project. Beningfield recorded Gordon Parks' book "A Hungry Heart: A Memoir."

LAWRENCE — Audio-Reader has partnered with the Kansas Center for the Book to participate in a state reading project featuring “The Learning Tree” by Gordon Parks.

Kansas Reads will encourage Kansas adults to read, discuss and experience the same book. For Kansans who are visually impaired or have difficulty reading printed materials, recordings of “The Learning Tree” are available through Audio-Reader.

“The Learning Tree,” an autobiographical novel set in Fort Scott, takes place during the 1920s and is subtitled: How it feels to be black in the white man’s world. The book was chosen by a committee of librarians because of its broad appeal and as a tribute to Parks, a native Kansan who died in 2006. Parks also was the recipient of the William Allen White Foundation’s National Citation in 2006.

“The Learning Tree” was recorded by Audio-Reader volunteer Marilyn Epp and will be broadcast on Audio-Reader’s closed-circuit radio reading service April 2-12. Audio-Reader will also provide CD and cassette recordings to area libraries, and recordings are accessible from its Web site.

For more information about the Kansas Reads project, including discussion questions, program ideas and other resources, visit the Kansas Center for the Book Web site.

Offered as a public service by the University of Kansas, Audio-Reader is a reading and information service for blind and print-disabled individuals in Kansas and western Missouri. For more information about Audio-Reader, call (800) 772-8898 or visit the organization’s Web site. Audio-Reader’s services are available free of charge.

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