Books In Common asked Cyndie Glazer of Lake Oswego Reads to explain how their program has evolved over the years and what makes it impactful for the community.
Would you tell us a bit about your program? For instance how long has the Lake Oswego Library been hosting a Community Reads event, how did it get started, and how has it changed over the years?
Lake Oswego Reads began eight years ago, back in 2007, with the goal of bringing together an entire community around one book. We wanted to promote the Lake Oswego Library as a cultural hub of education while bringing attention to great literature by giving citizens free copies of a book and hosting events that enhanced the reading experience. Over the years we have tried to feature a wide variety of books focusing on different customs and life experiences. Following the first book, The Shadow of the Wind, we’ve made an effort to choose books that allow us to bring the author here to speak. This has led to many great presentations and an outpouring of acclaim for our program by the authors themselves. We were also honored with a National City Livability Award in 2012 for the quality of our program.
What did you learn from last year’s program that is helping you this year? What are you changing, what worked well?
One large, if somewhat unfortunate, takeaway from our latest program is that poetry is not as accessible as literature to many people. It is also difficult to create events centered around a person, rather than a themed novel. We also learned the harsh lesson that the weather cannot always be predicted or controlled as five of our events had to be cancelled due to snow. Nonetheless, this past year’s program has only affirmed our belief that literature is a great way to connect our community through fun and education. The biggest difference was that instead of just our community focusing on a book, the entire state rallied around William Stafford’s works in honor of his centennial. This allowed us to tie in with other programs, including a sold-out centennial celebration at the Newmark Theatre and a two-day symposium at Lewis and Clark College. It was great to have so many people interested in one of our local legends, but in future we will most likely stick to novels.
What advice or tips can you share with us about hosting a community reads program?
Our best advice would be to think of possible events when picking a novel. Even the best novel might flop if there aren’t enough interesting events for the community to take part in. The best books provide opportunities to explore ideas and customs that are unfamiliar but accessible. It’s also vital that the book be at a reading level and style that appeals to a large variety of people. We have benefited well from choosing books that can be tied in to high school curriculum while still appealing to adults. The most important thing is to not choose a book unless you’re absolutely certain about it. Our steering committee once read thirty books before finding one! If everyone can’t stand behind a book, then the community won’t either.
Any suggestions for what you’d like to see from the BooksInCommon.org website and newsletter that would be helpful to other event organizers?
The information that you already provide is great! It’s wonderful to see stories from other like-minded community events, and the book recommendations are a great way to learn about new literature.
Do you have any examples of bridging diversity in a community by coming together around a book?
Our steering committee has always striven to select books that expand our community’s awareness, be it of another country or simply another small Oregon town. Our goal is to expand cultural understanding, and we do that through a wide range of events, from Gaelic classes to Rwandan music, and even a Pakistani market. We believe in the importance of a global education, and do our best to provide one through diverse literature and entertaining educational events.
What are some of your fondest or most notable memories from past events?
Every year there is one event that seems to stand out from all the rest. For the first year, though, it was what we did with the books after that was most notable. We always provide hundreds of free copies of the book to the community, but at the end of the month people are left with used copies of the book they don’t need. In 2007 we encouraged people to donate their copies of Shadow of the Wind to the North Plains Library, which was being rebuilt at the time. North Plains then held their own community reading event, putting on events and distributing the recycled copies. In this way we were able to extend our program further and allow even more people to experience great literature. North Plains Library continues to take our books every year and use them the following February.
