What is One Book, One Vancouver?
One Book, One Vancouver (OBOV) is a book club for the entire city, cultivating a culture of reading and discussion in Vancouver by bringing people together around two great books.
The program aims to encourage people to read, increase our sense of community by creating a common topic of conversation and create opportunities to engage people in reading and discussion about a variety of topics.
Inspired the by success of similar initiatives in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle, One Book, One Vancouver is the first initiative of its kind in Canada.
In 2009, from May through December, the Library hosts a variety of great events that help bring the books alive. A number of on-line resources are also available, such as OBOV program guides, website links, book discussion questions and cool facts, as well as information on VPL's Book Club Sets, how to start your own book club, and other book club related materials.
Last year's choice was one of many outstanding books suggested by Vancouver Public Library staff and selected by the Library's One Book, One Vancouver Organizing Committee.
Previous One Book, One Vancouver Titles:
2002: The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy
2003: Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor
2004: The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Bakan
2005: Obasan by Joy Kogawa
2006: There is a Season: A Memoir by Patrick Lane
2007: My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki
2008: The Five Books of Moses Lapinsky by Karen X. Tulchinsky
How was the program created?
The first One Book, One Vancouver was held in 2002. The idea for a city-wide book club came from a Vancouver Public Library staff member who had heard about the success of similar projects throughout the United States. Enthusiastically, Vancouver Public Library agreed that this would be a great program for the city of Vancouver.
The next step was to decide on a book for the program. Any book chosen for a city-wide book club should be interesting, engaging, and easy to read; have ideas, history, and discussible themes that would bring readers together; and, preferably, an author who was willing to engage in discussion with readers. With that in mind, Wayson Choy's The Jade Peony was a natural match as the inaugural choice for the program.
The success of the first was outstanding. The inaugural book was checked out 7,000 times; between 1,500 and 2,000 people attended OBOV events; 215 people registered their participation; 6,000 copies of the book were sold in BC; and the book was catapulted onto the BC Bestseller list for 13 weeks!
