CHICAGO (dpa) – Chicago is famous for its architecture and its music, and even for a gangster named Al Capone. But perhaps the city will soon be talked about for its love for literature.
Under an unusual reading project, the people in the city on the shores of Lake Michigan have all been called on to read the same book at the same time.And so it might be possible that in the weeks ahead strangers on the subway or in office building elevators or park benches will be seen with copies of the Holocaust novel “Night” by 1986 Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel in their hands.Then, in mid-April, book stores and public libraries will invite Chicagoans to gather to discuss the book and exchange their views. Organisers are expecting thousands of people to participate.“In the future, we want to propose a book for the entire city two times a year,” says Mary Dempsey, the city public library official in charge of the project called “One Book, One Chicago”. It is a simple, yet equally ambitious, idea.“We want to bring people together through literature,” Dempsey said. “Total strangers are suddenly discussing a book – isn’t this a wonderful idea?”And in fact, the people of Chicago appear to be both willing to read and to talk about it. The first reading project last autumn saw bookstores filled with people trying to buy the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. The book, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1961, dealt with racism in a small town in the 1930s.Nearly 7,000 people borrowed the book from public libraries, while schools and universities in Chicago put the book on their required reading lists. Margot Burke, spokeswoman for the “One Book, One Chicago” project, estimates that “tens of thousands of people” read “To Kill A Mockingbird”.“It was an overwhelming success for us,” she said.The choice of Harper Lee’s novel turned out to be right on target. “I had not read a book for years,” one person wrote later on to the public library. “All of a sudden it became clear to me how much joy reading can bring. I am already on the next book.”Another reader praised the community aspect of the book reading project: “I am suddenly getting to know my neighbours in a totally new way.”The reading project is actually borrowed from the west coast of America, namely from the city of Seattle, which in 1998 called on all its residents to read the same book. Since then, other cities have copied the idea.The Seattle initiators have even published some guideliens in the Internet, explaining step-by-step how to plan and carry out a project.Chicago has also published a final report running several pages in the Internet. It even includes the costs. Last autumn’s reading project cost the city 37,000 dollars.“That’s not very much for bringing the residents of an entire city closer together, is it?” she said.Chicago Public Library website: http://chipublib.org/003cpl/pressroom/onebookfinal.html
