Centre County Reads
As part of the Center for American Literary Studies’ commitment to public reading, CALS proudly partners with the Centre County Library system to sponsor a joint CALS/Centre County Reads community read annually. Information about each year’s book choice and events can be found in the links below.
Shared texts constitute a key form of community building. Whether readers agree or disagree about the interpretation of a given text, the act of discussing a text, offering cogent arguments about a text, and negotiating what a text might mean brings them together.
2026 Centre County Reads
For 2026, the Centre County Reads/CALS Community Read features Eileen Garvin’s novel Crow Talk. The novel follows Frankie O’Neill, an ornithology graduate student, Anne Ryan, a mother and wife who teaches Traditional Irish music at the Cornish College of the Arts, her son, Aidan, and a young injured crow. On a lake in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, the Garvin crafts a story of intersecting lives, families, and species.
A roundtable discussion and writing contest organized by CALS will precede a virtual author visit from Eileen Garvin, to be held via Zoom on April 1.
Details for these and other events (all of which are free and open to the public) are summarized below and can also be found at the Centre County Reads website.
January 2026
“Art and Observation” Writing Contest
This contest is part of the 2026 Centre County Reads/CALS Community Read of Eileen Garvin’s Crow Talk, a novel centered on the stories of two families (and a crow) learning to understand each other and the world around them. Frankie O’Neill is an ornithology graduate student working on finishing her thesis at her family’s caretaker cottage in the Pacific Northwest. The fall brings the arrival of another family, including Anne Ryan and her son, Aidan, who does not speak. Frankie takes in an injured crow and nurses it back to health, and when Aidan visits, to his mother’s surprise, he is adept at aiding in the care of “Charlie Crow.” As a child, Frankie tracked the birds she saw on the walls of an old hunting blind—as Frankie reorients herself in the place her love of birds began, she remembers how to observe, notice, and write about what is right outside her door.
Following the example of Garvin’s novel, enter your best work of writing that centers on a space of observation—and what can be learned from the art of careful noticing.
Submit your piece of 7,500 words or less for competition in one of the following categories:
Best Short Fiction
Best Nonfiction
Best Poetry
Best Entry for a Writer under 18
$300 Grand Prize
(additional prizes for winners in each category)
Entries due by March 16.
Submit your entry to cals@psu.edu.
Please send entries to cals@psu.edu and include a cover letter with your name, address, contact information, a brief biography, and contest category. Winning entries will be displayed at Schlow Centre Region Library and on the CALS website.
Book Discussion
Wednesday, January 14, 12:15pm – 1pm, CR Active Adult Center, Nittany Mall
February 2026
Book Discussion
Tuesday, February 17, 5:30pm – 6:30pm, Schlow Library, Sun Room
March 2026
Youth Take and Make – (March 2-7)
Holt Memorial Library, Philipsburg
Film Discussion
Friday, March 6th at 1:00pm
Fly Away Home – PG 1h 47m
Centre County Library, Bellefonte
Take and Make – Craft (date/time TBA)
Centre Hall Area Branch Library
Youth Take and Make – Craft (date/time TBA)
Centre County Library, Bellefonte
Book Discussions
Wednesday, March 4, 1pm – 2pm, Holt Memorial Library
Wednesday, March 18, 6:30pm Centre County Library, Virtual- Registration Required
Wednesday, March 25, 5:30pm – 6:30pm, Schlow Library, Sun Room
Storytimes
Wednesday, March 4, 10:30am, Holt Memorial Library Preschool Storytime
Monday, March 9, 10:30am, Centre Hall Area Branch Library Preschool Storytime
CALS Roundtable: “Ritual and Artistry”
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
4-5 PM via Zoom
Register here: https://psu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_czG2VKFJS0aKE7eYoMLsBw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Eileen Garvin’s novel Crow Talk centers on two women educators—ornithologist Frankie O’Neill and music teacher Anne Ryan—who meet one another unexpectedly on the shores of June Lake in the Pacific Northwest in their respective family cottages during the fall when other residents have shuttered their cottages for the season. Both Frankie and Anne ultimately draw on their scholarly and teaching investments in art and ritual—ornithology and Irish music respectively—to address significant challenges in their families in order to heal and find friendship. The ritual calls of crows help them—not least of all Anne’s young son Aiden, who otherwise refuses to speak—bond and move forward in empowering ways. Using Garvin’s novel as a touchstone, the three invited panelists on this roundtable session will reflect on how art and ritual intersect in their teaching, scholarly, and/or artistic practices.
Featured Panelists:
TBA
Moderator:
Ella Campopiano, Graduate Student in English, Penn State
For more information, please see www.centrecountyreads.org.
April 2026
An Evening with Eileen Garvin
Wednesday, April 1, 7pm – 8pm | Schlow Library Zoom
Register here:
https://schlow.zoom.us/meeting/register/Rwdnp_shTbOW6D8I3Ci9gA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Moderated by: Amanda Leigh Passmore-Ott
Associate Teaching Professor, The Pennsylvania State University; Penn State Faculty Affiliate, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center; Faculty Advisor, Rince na Leon – Penn State Irish Dance