Several new book clubs designed for adults with disabilities will soon be starting across the region, thanks to a grant awarded to East Tennessee State University.One group has already been meeting each week at Barnes & Noble in Johnson City for the past two years, led by Dr. Cynthia Chambers, a faculty member in ETSU’s Claudius G. Clemmer College of Education, and her students. Chambers started the program, called “Turning Pages Together,” soon after she joined the ETSU faculty.

The $15,000 grant from the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities will allow Chambers to launch five new book clubs that will convene at locations across the Tri-Cities.

“I’m very excited,” said Chambers, an assistant professor in the Department of Human Development and Learning. “The book club has been a rewarding experience for the adult participants and the students who have led the groups.

Chambers has already begun discussions with persons in the region who are interested in hosting a book club.

She added that another rewarding aspect of “Turning Pages Together” has been seeing her own students become passionate about literacy for persons with disabilities.

Chambers was recently appointed by Governor Phil Bredesen to serve a three-year term on the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities.

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