AUBURN - Malcom Gladwell, author of “The Tipping Point” (Little/Brown, 2000) is a true believer in epidemics.
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Lisa Carr, adult services librarian at Seymour Library, leads a discussion of the book “The Tipping Point,” by Malcolm Gladwell at the library on Wednesday evening. The event was part of the Cayuga Reads program, organized by the library in an effort to get the whole community to read a book and engage in dialogue about it.
Lisa Carr, adult services librarian at Seymour Library, leads a discussion of the book “The Tipping Point,” by Malcolm Gladwell at the library on Wednesday evening. The event was part of the Cayuga Reads program, organized by the library in an effort to get the whole community to read a book and engage in dialogue about it.
And not merely the rapid spread of disease.
In the book, which spent several weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, Gladwell explains that all change, whether social, financial or scientific, starts with a sudden cathartic shift, which he calls a “tipping point.”
Tipping points occur in the marketing of products, historical trends, even in TV programming.
The children's show ‘Sesame Street,' for example, is a tipping point because the show's creators first designed it in 1969 based on reactions from only a handful of children, and it has since become one of the most popular programs in TV history.
Gladwell's theories were discussed at length Wednesday night at Seymour Public Library at the kickoff of Cayuga Reads, a county-wide reading program presented by the library, Cayuga Community College, Auburn Enlarged City School District and Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES.
The program included lively discussion of Gladwell's ideas by about 20 community residents, including students from CCC and Auburn High School.
“Two years ago, several of us (area librarians) thought, ‘What if everybody read the same book at the same time?' That's how Cayuga Reads got started,” Lisa Carr, a librarian at Seymour, said prior to the meeting.
The librarians soon formed a committee, which includes representatives from the college, the Auburn school district and BOCES.
“We chose ‘The Tipping Point' from a list of several books people presented to the committee,” said Carolyn Hirst-Loucks, a school district official.
The criteria for choosing the book, she explained, was based on whether the book was available in paperback, making it more affordable, and its “discussability.”
“We want to use books that appeal to a lot of different age groups,” Carr added.
Several age groups were represented at Wednesday's meeting.
A few Auburn High School students, who said they attended to earn extra school credit, were present along with CCC students and other older community residents.
Carr began the program with a simple poll.
“Give me a thumbs-up if you liked this book, and a thumbs-down if you didn't,” Carr asked the group, which responded with a mix of yeses and noes.
Apparently, though, the book had at least some influence on those present, because the group entered into energetic discussion of marketing trends and group behavior, all stirred by Gladwell's ideas.
“Yawning is incredibly contagious,” he writes in the book's introduction. “I made some of you reading this yawn simply by writing the word 'yawn.'”
Like yawning, Gladwell goes on to explain change can start with a relatively small event, but that event can have far-reaching effects.
On Wednesday, Oct. 17, the Cayuga Reads program will continue at the library with a panel discussion with community leaders about factors that led to changes in their organizations.
Panelists will include Ginny Kent, membership coordinator for the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Leslie Miller-Bernal, vice president for academic affairs at Wells College; Ed Sayles, producing director of the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse; and Peter Wisbey, executive director of the Seward House.
On Oct. 24, the library will hold a reception to honor the winners of Cayuga Reads' ongoing poetry and essay contest, the entrants of which are mostly high school and college students, Carr said.
If You Go
What: Cayuga Reads' panel discussion
Where: Seymour Public Library, 176 Genesee St., Auburn
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 17
For more information, call 252-2571, or visit www.seymourlibrary.org
In the book, which spent several weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, Gladwell explains that all change, whether social, financial or scientific, starts with a sudden cathartic shift, which he calls a “tipping point.”
Tipping points occur in the marketing of products, historical trends, even in TV programming.
The children's show ‘Sesame Street,' for example, is a tipping point because the show's creators first designed it in 1969 based on reactions from only a handful of children, and it has since become one of the most popular programs in TV history.
Gladwell's theories were discussed at length Wednesday night at Seymour Public Library at the kickoff of Cayuga Reads, a county-wide reading program presented by the library, Cayuga Community College, Auburn Enlarged City School District and Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES.
The program included lively discussion of Gladwell's ideas by about 20 community residents, including students from CCC and Auburn High School.
“Two years ago, several of us (area librarians) thought, ‘What if everybody read the same book at the same time?' That's how Cayuga Reads got started,” Lisa Carr, a librarian at Seymour, said prior to the meeting.
The librarians soon formed a committee, which includes representatives from the college, the Auburn school district and BOCES.
“We chose ‘The Tipping Point' from a list of several books people presented to the committee,” said Carolyn Hirst-Loucks, a school district official.
The criteria for choosing the book, she explained, was based on whether the book was available in paperback, making it more affordable, and its “discussability.”
“We want to use books that appeal to a lot of different age groups,” Carr added.
Several age groups were represented at Wednesday's meeting.
A few Auburn High School students, who said they attended to earn extra school credit, were present along with CCC students and other older community residents.
Carr began the program with a simple poll.
“Give me a thumbs-up if you liked this book, and a thumbs-down if you didn't,” Carr asked the group, which responded with a mix of yeses and noes.
Apparently, though, the book had at least some influence on those present, because the group entered into energetic discussion of marketing trends and group behavior, all stirred by Gladwell's ideas.
“Yawning is incredibly contagious,” he writes in the book's introduction. “I made some of you reading this yawn simply by writing the word 'yawn.'”
Like yawning, Gladwell goes on to explain change can start with a relatively small event, but that event can have far-reaching effects.
On Wednesday, Oct. 17, the Cayuga Reads program will continue at the library with a panel discussion with community leaders about factors that led to changes in their organizations.
Panelists will include Ginny Kent, membership coordinator for the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce; Dr. Leslie Miller-Bernal, vice president for academic affairs at Wells College; Ed Sayles, producing director of the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse; and Peter Wisbey, executive director of the Seward House.
On Oct. 24, the library will hold a reception to honor the winners of Cayuga Reads' ongoing poetry and essay contest, the entrants of which are mostly high school and college students, Carr said.
If You Go
What: Cayuga Reads' panel discussion
Where: Seymour Public Library, 176 Genesee St., Auburn
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 17
For more information, call 252-2571, or visit www.seymourlibrary.org
