Roberts Honored with Arlin G. Meyer Book Award
Posted on: November 18, 2025
Tigerville, SC—Dr. Rachel Roberts, who serves as the chair of North Greenville University’s English department, has been recognized by The Lilly Network with the Arlin G. Meyer Book Award for her work Deep Reading: Practices to Subvert the Vices of our Distracted, Hostile, and Consumeristic Age (Baker Academic 2024).
Roberts co-authored the book with Dr. Rachel B. Griffis and Dr. Julie Ooms.
“Deep Reading is a book about reading for character formation,” Roberts said. “We argue that reading itself can, when done thoughtfully, form our characters. We focus especially on ways in which reading can train us to be less distracted, to be more charitable, and to resist consumerism.”
Roberts said she was humbled by the recognition and hopes the book advances the conversation on the topic of reading.
“All three of us were very excited,” she said. “We have all participated in Lilly Network events before, so we were very aware of this award and what an honor it is. Many authors we admire have received or been nominated for this award, and it’s an honor to join their company. We hope the recognition gives more people a chance to encounter our book and join the conversation about reading.”
NGU President Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr., said the honor was well deserved.
“This is a major prize that reflects the growing and continued reputation of our academic programs,” said President Fant.
“Those of us who have been involved in Christian higher education for a long time know the significance of the Lilly Network as one of the really major institutional names in our field,” added NGU Provost Dr. Hunter Baker. “This recognition says a lot about the quality of Dr. Roberts’ work. We are honored to have her as part of our faculty.”
As more readers find her work, Roberts said she hopes they will apply some of the practices the book suggests.
“I hope that readers of this book will not only enjoy it but will also try out some of the practices for themselves,” she said. “As adults, we rarely think of reading as something we can learn to do better, but there are so many ways to practice reading thoughtfully and to form our characters towards virtue through our reading.”
