For the sixth year, Hesston College and the Hesston Public Library invite individuals and groups in the local communities to join students, faculty and staff for a community read during the fall 2017 semester. The book selection for the 2017 read is “Blue Revolution: Unmaking America’s Water Crisis” (2012, Beacon Press) by Cynthia Barnett.

Barnett, an award-winning environmental journalist who teaches at the University of Florida (Gainsville), proposes that America needs a “blue revolution” comparable to the “go green” movement to address the use and abuse of water in the United States and around the world. The book examines a variety of perspectives and makes an argument for a “water ethic” with a call to action that reconnects individuals to their water.

Barnett will visit the Hesston College campus for the annual Melva Kauffman Lecture Series to discuss themes in the book on Thursday, Nov. 2. Events for the day will include a morning talk with students, an afternoon presentation for the public at Dyck Arboretum of the Plains and an evening keynote address at Hesston Mennonite Church.