Public to pick book for Northland communities to read

Northlanders  have the power to choose what book their community should indulge in for the 14th annual One Book, One Community event next spring.
“This is the first time the public will choose the One Book, One Community title,” said Carla Powers, Duluth Public Library manager. “Whichever book is selected, the library is thrilled that it will be the book for 2015.”
The book committee will host a public event to reveal the final four books to the public Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Duluth Public Library, 520 W. Superior St. Then residents can vote for their favorite choice, which ultimately will be the focus of a series of public events and discussions for kids and adults.
The One Book committee is composed of regional librarians, teachers and community members. It chooses a book every year; gives Duluth, Superior, Cloquet and Virginia communities the opportunity to read the same book; then attend one of their big open- group discussions or presentations based on the selected work the following year.
“It is a lot of fun. We want the whole community to feel and be a part of this event,” said Patra Sevastiades, coordinator for One Book, One Community.  
Last year, the selection was “The Cellist of Sarajevo.” Nearly 1,185 people of all ages participated in the different festivities based around the selection. There were musical performances by David Wilde and Tomaso Albinoni, featured international films that related to the book and activities for children to create their own tambourine.  
One Book, One Community was created by a Seattle librarian several years ago. The concept was brought to Duluth 14 years ago.
“It is nice to have a way to connect to one another,” Sevastiades said. “We have such a terrific community and we’d love to spark as many book discussions as possible.”
People have from Sept. 4 to Sept. 20 to vote for their favorite book. Three of the books are fiction and one is non-fiction. The public can vote at any of the public library locations, access the library website or vote at local Barnes & Noble stores.
“I’m interested to see which book the public will find most fascinating,” Sevastiades said. “This process will allow us to know what type of books they prefer to read in the future.”
The book with the most votes will be announced later this month.
The discussion and events for the chosen book will take place in spring 2015.