About One Book
Gettysburg College and the Adams County Library System are pleased to announce the second Adams County Reads One Book event starting in January 2006. This community wide event will feature Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, who will visit Gettysburg on March 1 - 2.
Our committee carefully reviewed many works of literary fiction by internationally-recognized authors who also are available to visit Gettysburg and enthusiastic about interacting with readers. We are delighted with the selection of Leif Enger.
Please don't hesitate to contact Janelle Wertzberger at (717) 337-7010 or by email with ideas or questions.
The Adams Country program has been a huge success right from the beginning. During our first One Book (in 2004), hundreds of people from
all around the county joined us as we read Ursula Hegi's Stones from the River. Our lectures and book discussions,
held throughout the county, were extremely successful. We hope that everyone is as excited for the return of
Adams County Reads One Book as we are! We hope to offer this program every other year between January and March.
"One Book, One
Community" programming began in 1998 when Nancy Pearl and
the Seattle Public Library designed a program titled "If All of
Seattle Read the Same Book." This program included numerous community
events designed to motivate people to read the book and to unite
the community through the shared experience of reading. Events included
discussion groups and lectures at various branches of the public
library, chapter readings on public radio, a visit from the author,
and more. The program was a huge success, and Seattle has been reading
together every since (see their Seattle
Reads website for more details).
Nancy Pearl has become a celebrity in her own right - she served as the model for the popular Librarian Action Figure toy manufactured by Archie McPhee. In December 2003, the Librarian Action Figure was their bestselling toy! The action figure has become so popular that McPhee has released a deluxe edition, which comes complete with accessories!
One-book programs have proliferated since 1998 - see the Library of Congress' list of programs nationwide.
