Even before the university dives into the 2008-09 Campus Community Book Project, organizers are launching the selection process for the next book -- asking for nominations for 2009-10 and soliciting volunteers to read and review the nominated volumes this summer.

Nominations and volunteers are welcome from campus and Davis communities, which are the target audiences for the annual book project, intended to promote conversation and mutual respect based on the shared experience of reading the same book.

For 2009-10, the Campus Council on Community and Diversity is inviting nominations that will foster reflection and dialogue on this theme: psychological/emotional health and well-being.

Mikael Villalobos, administrator of diversity education and book project coordinator, said the theme stems in part from incidents of campus violence across the United States, particularly since the Virginia Tech shootings in April 2007.

He said organizers also hope to raise awareness of mental health services on campus.

"We welcome nominations of books that are compelling and thought provoking to engage us in dialogue about complex contemporary questions," Villalobos said.

He said books should be well-written and accessible to a general audience; short enough to be integrated into courses; and provocative and intriguing to as many members of the community as possible, to invite diverse participation and integration into discussion groups and courses across the sciences, social sciences and humanities.

Eligibility extends to all published works -- fiction, nonfiction, play or novel, or short story or essay collections -- that are available in paperback and still in print. In making the final selection, organizers require the author's availability to give a lecture on campus.

Nominations should be e-mailed to mbvillalobos@ucdavis.edu by Aug. 15. Include the name of the publication and author, and a short explanation of why the publication would make a worthy selection.

Villalobos also wants to hear from people interested in reviewing the nominations and making the selection. The selection committee is scheduled to meet from 12:10 to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 20 and Sept. 3 in 61 Mrak Hall, with members being asked to read intensively through the summer in order to achieve consensus by October.

'Cure the world'

The 2008-09 book is Mountains Beyond Mountains, the story of Boston physician Paul Farmer, described in the subtitle as "a man who could cure the world." Tracy Kidder's 2003 book documents Farmer's Robin Hood-like fight against tuberculosis and the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus in impoverished Haiti.

The book covers such topics as geopolitics, Latin American studies, globalization, service learning, health care, ethical pricing of drugs, business and individual moral responsibility, inequality and human dignity.

The Campus Community Book Project is sponsored by the Office of Campus Community Relations, the Campus Council on Community and Diversity, and the Offices of the Chancellor and Provost.

Campus bookstores in Davis and Sacramento are selling Mountains Beyond Mountains in paperback at a discounted price of $9.95 (list price $15.95), through mid-April 2009.