Library selects Finding the Mother Tree for second shared reading initiative

Photo: Penguin Random House

Prof. Suzanne Simard, of the University of British Columbia

The Thompson-Nicola Regional Library has selected a book by UBC forest ecologist Suzanne Simard for the library's second One Book, One Community shared reading initiative.

In a news release, the TNRL said Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest is a “moving and personal journey of discovery.”

“[Simard] brings us into the intimate world of trees, transforming the way we understand forests — not just a source of timber or pulp, but an interdependent circle of life,” the library statement said.

“She teaches us how trees live social lives, communicating and caring for each other through fungal networks, sharing nutrients and information. At the centre of the forest is the eldest mother tree — the one that is in tune with the rest and nurtures them.”

Finding the Mother Tree was the library's top circulated adult non-fiction book in 2022.

According to the TNRL, Simard is from an Interior B.C. logging family and has been a longtime resident of the region.

TNRL said Simard will be at four TNRL library locations and will make an appearance at the Paramount Theatre in late April to deliver readings.

On April 26, Simard will be at the Chase library at 2 p.m., and the Paramount Theatre in downtown Kamloops at 6:30 p.m.

She will be at the Ashcroft library and the Logan Lake library on April 27, at 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. respectively.

Simard will deliver a reading at the Merritt library on April 28 at 6 p.m., and on April 29, she will attend the Barriere library at 11:30 a.m. and the Clearwater library at 2:30 p.m.

Anyone interested in attending any of Simard’s readings or joining a discussion group about the book can visit the TNRL website for more information.