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Leadership
Lise's Lens
Lise's Lens: December 11, 2025
This week, on the heels of a highly successful CSW Library Read-a-Thon, I have found myself consumed with all things having to do with books, reading, and libraries.
WHAT I'M READING
Water Moon by Samantha Sotto
Lately I have once again been finding myself struggling to get into a book. It is frustrating and bothersome but apparently I’m not alone in this struggle. It could be the bizarreness of our times, information overload, or the guilt I sometimes feel when spare time is spent on anything other than work. The funny thing is that I had a breakthrough last week, at the airport of all places! This isn’t the first time that Hudson News has saved me from boredom on a flight. But this time, I leaned into what a few students had recommended to me two or three years back when we were discussing our reading preferences. I like historical fiction and non-fiction, while many of them prefer fantasy fiction and contemporary fantasy. So I embarked on reading Water Moon by Samantha Sotto, and I am only about a third of the way through it, but I am hooked. I don’t know if I would call it Magical Realism (à la Gabriel Garcia Marquez) but it is there. I’m also reminded of one of my favorite books of all time, Sartre’s Les Jeux Sont Faits … but I’m not far enough into the novel to see if it is a fair comparison. We’ll see!
WHAT I'M THINKING ABOUT
How We Decide What to Read
I have been thinking both about the importance of reading, in general, and of being mindful of how we select what we read. When I browse my news feeds and online lists, they can feel overly curated and it can make you feel like a mindless consumer being spoonfed ideas. I think there is something to be said for going to a bookstore, browsing, and making a spontaneous selection yourself, instead of just choosing the titles the big publishers want you to buy. I also think personal book recommendations from people you know are always so interesting. Maybe one day we can put together recommendation lists from students, faculty, staff, and parents.
WHAT I'M WATCHING/LISTENING TO
How cool is this temporary 3D exhibit at Art Basel in Miami? The structure is apparently 20 feet tall and is filled with 2,500 books. In the video, the artist explains how the installation is about “seeing through the eyes of others,” and allows authors with different points of views to exist side by side in silence on the beach. The piece was inspired in part by the Borges quote, “I am not sure that I exist, actually. I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities I have visited.” Passerbys are invited to grab a book, sit, read, and engage in discussion with others. I think it is an incredible tribute to the power of reading and libraries.
WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE
On Saturday, approximately 60 community members participated in all or part of our 12-hour read-a-thon in the CSW Library. What a great event!
CSW—a gender-inclusive day and boarding school for grades 9-12—is a national leader in progressive education. We live out our values of inquiry-based learning, student agency, and embracing diverse perspectives in every aspect of our student experience. Young people come to CSW to learn how to learn and then put what they learn into action—essential skills they carry into their futures as doers, makers, innovators, leaders, and exceptional humans who do meaningful work in the world.