May 3rd, 2007
What if everyone read the same book?
When Nancy Pearl, the model for the coolest action figure on the planet, was the Executive Director for the Washington Center for the Book, she asked the question, “What if all Seattle read the same book?” Well, she made that thought come to life by creating the first-ever “One City One Book” program and soon after libraries all around the country began creating similar community-wide reading programs.
For the past 6+ months, I’ve been a part of a dedicated group of people (mostly Library staff) committed to bringing this “One City One Book” concept to Thousand Oaks. It’s easily the biggest project I’ve been involved with since I started here, and I have to say, it’s going to be an incredible program. The book that the committee chose for the inaugural Thousand Oaks Reads is Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. If you haven’t read it yet, you really should pick it up.
In the Fall of this year, there will be several weeks when book discussions (at the Library, coffee shops, bookstores) and special events will take place all around the City. Jonathan Safran Foer is even visiting Thousand Oaks to talk about his book and his work. I’m really excited about this project because it really represents many of the positive things that libraries bring to their communities. It’s meant as a celebration of reading and literature…it’s meant to strengthen the community…and it’s meant to enrich people’s lives.
If you’re interested in learning more, check out the project’s website at thousandoaksreads.org. Working on the website has given me the chance to become more familiar with Wordpress and learn a bit more about web design and CSS, so I’m very happy about that. It’s very much a work in progress, so if you have any suggestions on how to improve it, please let me know.
By the way, when I was in grad school at UM-SI, I heard Nancy Pearl give a lecture on campus and she was truly inspirational. Afterwards, I approached her to say hello and have my Nancy Pearl action figure autographed (yes, that makes me a certified librarian geek!). I told her that I planned on becoming a librarian and she asked me what type. I told her I was interested in public and academic libraries, and she encouraged me to become a public librarian. I believe her exact words were, “Public. Go with Public. We need more good people in public libraries.” I took her advice 
