Social networking has just expanded into yet another area–book discussions groups. Librarian extraordinaire Nancy Pearl began the “One Book” reading movement in 1998 when the Seattle Public Library initiated the “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book” program featuring “The Sweet Hereafter” by Russel Banks. Since then, communities all over the US have followed her lead in choosing and promoting a book in an effort to encourage community-wide reading and discussion. Locally, the Sullivan Free Library and the Chittenango Central School District sponsored a “One Community, One Book” discussion of “Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie in 2008. The MidYork Library system has coordinated two “Regional Reads” featuring “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury and “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman.
A few weeks ago, editor of Wired Jeff Howe initiated a campaign to have Twitter users choose one title for a discussion this coming summer–over Twitter. His blog caught the interest of NPR who included it on “All Things Considered”: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126365370
Today, he announced that the winner is “American Gods” by Neil Gaiman:
http://www.crowdsourcing.com/cs/2010/04/and-the-one-book-one-twitter-winner-is-.html
Gaiman, a British author, is popular among adults and children. He wrote the book “Coraline” which was made into a 3-D movie in 2009. In “American Gods”, an ex-con who is offered a job as a bodyguard for Mr. Wednesday, a trickster and a rogue. Shadow soon learns that his role in the man’s schemes are far more dangerous and dark than he could have ever imagined.
If you are interested in reading this book along with the Twitter community, you can join the group by searching twitter for: #1b1t
The book is available in both print and audio format in libraries throughout the Midyork system.
Karen Fauls-Traynor, Library Director
Sullivan Free Library's Blog 