unc's summer reading program (http://newstudents.unc.edu/content/view/32/61/) does something similar, and i'm sure that a quick search of the chronicle of higher ed would turn up other stories re: these kinds of programs being adopted at other small/large colleges and universities. it might be interesting to look at the arguments being made at the reading selection committee level once these programs have been enacted and also the arguments being made at the institutional level in favor/against the implementation of such programs. good luck!

Also interesting as trend for cities--Austin, for ex., is in fourth year of city-wide project that asks, "What if all of Austin reads the same book?" This year, the book is a group of Austin-resident authored stories called Writing Austin's Lives. In the past, it's been Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses , Louis Sachar's Holes and Rudolfo Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima. Chicago also had much-publicized program... It would be cool to consider some community leaders' answers to that--what if everybody reads the same book--question. How are their answers--and starting goals--different from academic communities?