CHQ Book Read
About
The YWCA of Jamestown and Chautauqua Institution are pleased to announce the fourth annual Chautauqua County Book Read. We invite all Chautauqua County residents to participate in this book read. We have selected "My Side of the River" by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez as our common read book. The purpose of this shared book read program is to engage Chautauqua County residents, businesses, nonprofits and organizations to help heal our divides and propel participants to be engaged citizens working towards a more inclusive and just society. We selected this book because it adds the human experience around the immigration debates, and speaks to the importance of resilience and role of education in transforming lives.
Those interested in participating are invited to register via this link. Each participant is also encouraged to attend one book discussion group between May 12-23, 2025. In-person and online book discussion groups will be offered. Information on the times and locations of the book discussions is available via the registration link below:
Additionally, participants are invited to attend a live lecture on Thursday, July 17th 2025 at 3:30 pm with the author, Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez, at the Hall of Philosophy on the Chautauqua Institution grounds. This day has been designated as “Chautauqua County Day” at the Institution, and all Chautauqua County residents are eligible for free admission and parking. Information on how to order complimentary gate and parking passes for this event will be posted in the coming weeks at chqcounty.chq.org.
The YWCA of Jamestown and Chautauqua Institution are serving as lead organizations for this initiative. We are pleased to announce that this program is part of a community-wide effort. Please look for more information about participating at one of our partner organizations:
We encourage participants to purchase their own copy of the book, if possible. Please note that many of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System libraries already have a limited supply of this book. If you represent an organization that would like to support this effort, please reach out to the contacts listed below.
For more information, please contact:
Amanda Gesing, Executive Director, YWCA of Jamestown (agesing@ywcajamestown.com)
Danica Olson, Project Coordinator, CHQ Book Read (chqbookread@ywcajamestown.com)
Amit Taneja, SVP of Community Relations and Chief IDEA Officer, Chautauqua Institution (ataneja@chq.org )
Our Partners:
More About the Author
Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez
Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez grew up in Tucson, AZ, a daughter of immigrants forced to return to Mexico following complications with their legal status. Despite these tumultuous events, Elizabeth graduated from High School at the top of her class. In 2018, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics. While studying at Penn, Elizabeth appeared on NPR’s Latino USA and The Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) named her as the Scholar of the year in 2017. Gutierrez was also the recipient of multiple awards and fellowships including the U.S. Department of State Gilman Scholarship Program. In 2020, Gutierrez secured a spot in the Wells Fargo Ignite program, a Wells Fargo and TED Institute partnership. Her TED Talk recounts her story of finding opportunity and stability in the United States and led to her book deal with St. Martin’s Press, and imprint of Macmillan. She currently works in tech as a Rotational Product Manager at Facebook where she hopes to use her background and knowledge to empower communities.
