One Book, One Minnesota
One Book | One Minnesota is a new statewide book club that invites Minnesotans of all ages to read a common title and come together virtually to enjoy, reflect and discuss.
This year, through their local libraries, Minnesotans are be invited to read the featured book selection and will have access to author videos, reading guides, and virtual book club discussions. Multiple titles will be featured throughout the year.
The April/May selection was Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. All Minnesotans were invited to participate in a statewide virtual discussion with the author on Wednesday, May 20th at 1 pm. Information about the discussion is at: https://thefriends.org/onebookmnmay
The summer selection is A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota, a collection of essays edited by Shing Yun-Shin.
About the Summer Selection
Welcome to the second chapter of One Book | One Minnesota. The Friends started this program two months ago with Because of Winn-Dixie, it was in response to the isolation and resource gaps created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The desire was to bring Minnesotans together to share in the collective joy of reading and come together as a virtual community.
Since then, the Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd, and led by Black community members and activists, the world erupted in grief, protest, and perhaps finally a reckoning that we must confront institutional and systemic racism – and that means all of us. Reading this book in community offers some Minnesotans the opportunity to see their experiences broadly shared and others a chance to educate themselves—and to discover ways to act on their convictions.
We are fortunate that Minnesota is home to many talented writers whose work can inform and guide us on this journey. In 2016, the Minnesota Historical Society Press published a series of essays by Native writers and writers of color in Minnesota entitled A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota, edited by Sun Yung Shin. We are grateful and proud to bring this book forward for the second chapter of One Book | One Minnesota.
A Good Time for the Truth is available on Hoopla and from your library, but the easiest way to access it is from Ebooks Minnesota. Through Ebooks Minnesota, anyone in the state can access the digital book for free, even if they don’t have a library card. A Good Time for the Truth will be available via Ebooks Minnesota through August 23rd. Links to resources and more information can be found at thefriends.org/onebook.
A state-wide discussion, date and time TBA, is being planned for August.
One Book | One Minnesota is presented by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, as the Minnesota Center for the Book, in partnership with State Library Services. Program partners include Candlewick Press, Council of Regional Public Library System Administrators, Minitex (a joint program of the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Office of Higher Education), and Minnesota Department of Education.
