The Program
One Read, coordinated by the Daniel Boone Regional Library
(DBRL) and now in its second year, is a community-wide reading program
sponsored by a task force made up of local media and community agencies.
Modeled after Chicago’s successful “One
Book, One Chicago” project, this comprehensive program involves
cities, counties, media, schools and businesses in encouraging adults
of all ages to read one book and participate in thought-provoking
discussion and activities. It is the hope of the One Read task
force that as many residents as possible in Boone and Callaway Counties
(the DBRL region) will participate in One Read.
One Read Partners
| 9th Street
Bookstore Barnes & Noble Booksellers Book Express Callaway County City of Columbia, Office of Cultural Affairs Center for Literary Arts Columbia Daily Tribune Columbia Missourian Fulton State Hospital |
Fulton Sun KBIA-FM KFAL/KKCA KFRU-AM KOMU-TV 8 Kingdom of Callaway Chamber of Commerce University Bookstore Westminster College William Woods University |
The Book
The task force accepted recommendations for this year’s One
Read book from the public in February 2003.
In March, a reading panel, made up of community members from Boone and Callaway counties, reviewed the list of titles suggested and narrowed it to 10 titles using the criteria below. The panel then read all 10 books and presented two of those titles to the public to vote on in May. The winning book was announced in August. Community-wide discussions, programs and other activities will begin in September and run until the first week of October.
The One Read task force looked for a book the community would enjoy reading and discussing, has a broad-based appeal to readers of different backgrounds and reading levels, and addresses themes, issues and topics that would encourage and sustain spirited discussion. The reading panel considered the following when narrowing the list of books:
1. Is this book written by a noted author?
2. Does the book contain thought-provoking subject matter that encourages discussion?
3. Will the book appeal to a cross-generational audience?
4. Will the book appeal to a diverse audience?
5. Is the book easy to read and follow?
6. Is the book available in paperback and other various formats?
One Read Goals
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To encourage leisure reading
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To provide collaboration among agencies and a feeling of inclusiveness throughout the region
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To provide a variety of means of participation
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To promote the programs and services provided through the Daniel Boone Regional Library system
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To provide resources for book discussion groups
One Read 2002
“What is the next book?” That was the question we heard
repeatedly at the DBRL facilities even before the One Read
activities were over last year, so it was clear to us that people
liked this program and wanted to do it again. Our evaluation also
reflected a positive public reception. Here are some of the 2002 One
Read highlights.
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945 patrons signed up for the program at one of our libraries or via our Web site, which represents 0.7% of the two-county population over the age of 18. (We noted when we began that a similar program in Chicago’s Cook County registered 0.226% of its adult population.)
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879 check-outs of the library’s paperback, hardback, large print, cassette and Spanish language versions of the One Read book “Plainsong” were recorded between July 25 and November 22, 2002.
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8109 hits were recorded to the One Read portion of the Web site from July through November.
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310 area residents attended 14 One Read Programs. These audiences ranged from high school and college students to older adults, and included both men and women as well as several married couples.
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Over the course of the program, many staff members and the director were approached about One Read outside of the library.
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We were still receiving and filling requests for One Read book group kits at the end of 2002.
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On December 17 and 18, a TV crew came to Columbia and Fulton to shoot footage for “TV 411,” a half-hour PBS adult-literacy program funded through the Adult Literacy Media Alliance (ALMA) with the aim of improving literacy among adults. “TV 411” is aired on over 100 PBS stations across the nation and is an Emmy Award-winning show. Producers in New York City found out about One Read through our Web site.
Last year’s One Read book was “Plainsong,” by Kent Haruf, a 1999 National Book Award nominee. Random House described the book this way:
“Plainsong” is a heartstrong story of family and romance, tribulation and tenacity, set on the High Plains east of Denver. In the small town of Holt, Colorado, a high school teacher is confronted with raising his two boys alone after their mother retreats first to the bedroom, then altogether. A teenage girl—her father long since disappeared, her mother unwilling to have her in the house—is pregnant and alone with nowhere to go. And out in the country, two brothers, elderly bachelors, work the family homestead, the only world they've ever known.
From these unsettled lives emerges a vision of life, and of the town and landscape that bind them together—their fates somehow overcoming the powerful circumstances of place and station, their confusion, curiosity, dignity and humor intact and resonant. As the milieu widens to embrace fully four generations, Kent Haruf displays an emotional and aesthetic authority to rival the past masters of a classic American tradition.
Utterly true to the rhythms and patterns of life, “Plainsong” is a novel to care about, believe in, and learn from.
Similar Programs
The idea of having as many people as possible read a single book together
originated five years ago in Seattle. It has since spread to many
other cities, including Chicago, Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y., Springfield,
Ill., and Boise, Idaho. Credit for the original idea is given to Nancy
Pearl, a Seattle librarian. “It’s based on the idea of
community. My idea was that people would come together who would never
come together any other way. Literature brings them together because
a book touches them,” she said.