One Book, One Community: One Great Idea
In 1998, Nancy Pearl and Chris Higashi, librarians working in the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library (SPL), had a brainstorm. Challenged with a grant to develop new audiences for literature, they were intrigued with the power of books to unite diverse audiences. With that in mind, they expanded the book club concept to encompass the entire city, launching a book discussion that incorporated all the branches, bookstores, and even cultural organizations. At the center was a carefully chosen book—one they thought would inspire meaningful discussions and whose author could engage audiences—Russell Banks’s The Sweet Hereafter, a poignant story of a town’s grief after a bus accident takes 14 children’s lives. The library called on local book groups to include the book in their schedules and organized library events and readings. The programming was supported by library-created resources designed to help explore the book and its author. Finally, Banks was brought in for a series of events. When a bus crashed in Seattle shortly before Banks’s arrival, the program gave the community a channel to express complex emotions.
Library Journal Sept 1, 2009: One Book, One CommunityIt was, of course, the first Seattle Reads, a programming “aha!” that has since been echoed more than a thousand times across the country, placing the library smack dab in the center of the communities where they’re held. The idea captured the imagination of the Chicago Public Library (CPL), which launched One Book, One Chicago in 2001, with a citywide read of Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird. CPL’s ambitious take swept the idea of community reads into the library programming spotlight and coined the famous “One Book” label.
Today, One Book programs are held in libraries, colleges, bookstores, and cultural centers across North America, Australia, and the UK. In fact, the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress (LC) tracks hundreds of One Book projects. The idea also leapt into the purview of the National Endowment for the Arts, which created “The Big Read,” a grant program that enables libraries and cultural organizations of any size and any means to pull off a community read (see “Big Read, Big ROI,” LJ 11/15/08, p. 26–29).
What is it about mass readings?
Why has this idea become a phenomena? Clearly, it strikes a chord for librarians, allowing them to be, well, librarians. “These programs bring all your different skills together: picking the book, programming, and finding information that relates to the book and the topic,” says Pearl, since retired from SPL and renowned in readers’ advisory (RA) circles and beyond. “They allow us to reconnect to reading.”
Pearl also feels One Book programs are naturally malleable, easily bending to fit any community’s needs or resources. Indeed, the breadth of versions is dizzying. For example, One Book, One Jewish Community gathers the Jewish residents of Philadelphia around works by Jewish authors. One Book, One Zip Code embraces three towns under a mantle that makes compelling the five digits at the end of an address. And, in the tip of Michigan’s mitten, TC Reads (as in Traverse City) celebrates the Great Lakes coastal lifestyle.
via Talkback on Library Journal.