Group 4 Readings

Group 4: One City, One Book

One Book, One Community: Planning Your Community-Wide Read

The main thing that struck me when reading this was just what a huge undertaking a program of this nature is. It seems easy enough—publicize a book that everyone should read. More hidden are venue concerns, bringing in speakers, making copies of the book available, and coordinating several organizations to work together. This booklet seems very thorough and well thought-out… it seems like it would make a good jumping-off point for any city considering holding a One City, One Book-type event. I do wish the group had specified which parts of this to read, but I used my judgment and read some parts more thoroughly than others.

One Book Projects Grow in Popularity

My undergraduate institution always assigns a book (usually fiction) to incoming freshmen. During New Student Week, students meet in groups and discuss the issues in the group. I found myself wondering how long that program has been going on, and it turns out it was started in 1988, fully ten years before One City, One Book began. I’d be curious to learn more about similar programs and how they relate to One Book. I looked at the link of One Book projects and was surprised by just how many cities have adopted it—pretty neat.

“Building a Community of Readers”: A One Book Program

Ah… well, here’s some information on other similar programs… just like I asked for. A nice example of the application of the idea to a smaller, different setting.