One Read, coordinated by the Daniel Boone Regional Library (DBRL) and now in its third year, is a community-wide reading program sponsored by a task force 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.

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.

Goals

• To encourage leisure reading.
• To provide collaboration among agencies and a feeling of inclusiveness throughout the region
• To provide a variety of means of participation.
• To promote the programs and services provided through the Daniel Boone Regional Library system.
• To provide resources for book discussion groups.