PARIS – About 50 Oxford Hills residents gathered Tuesday to talk about life and community in rural Maine as they celebrated the end of the One Book, One Community program.
For eight weeks, residents from across the region have participated in forums, book discussion groups and even tap-dancing lessons while reading “Ernie’s Ark,” a book of fiction written by former Mexico resident Monica Wood.
“This has been really an overwhelming experience,” Wood said as she addressed the crowd at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School forum on Tuesday. She spoke highly of the related events she had managed to attend.
“I think all of these things that have happened have really helped me understand my own book better,” she said smiling. “I think that Ernie and the gang have found their proper home in this community, and I thank you.”
Wood’s book tells the stories of a handful of individuals surviving a mill strike in a fictional Maine town. Together, the stories weave a web that represent a community, said speaker Bruce Hazard, director of regional Mountain Counties Heritage. Hazard’s organization focuses on community and economic development in western Maine. Despite his work, he said that until he read Wood’s book he “wasn’t really getting” the message that small factions of a community are so integral to the whole.
The One Book, One Community project was modeled after a similar effort that began in Seattle in 1998 and has since been reproduced across the country. It was intended to bring communities together by encouraging people to read and engage in discussions about the same book.
Ten libraries throughout the Oxford Hills region were behind the program, which included 17 book discussion groups, plus additional forums and events nearly every week.
In Maine, communities such as Augusta, Lewiston, Auburn, South Portland and Poland have had One Book, One Community programs. Diane Jackson of the Harrison Public Library said this program was unique, however, because it encompassed “the eight towns of Oxford Hills, the public libraries and the students from Hebron Academy and the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.”
A total of 500 copies of “Ernie’s Ark” were sold at reduced rates, in part because of Wood’s donation of her own commission, and 240 people took part in the series of program events, Jackson said.
“At the many book discussions, over 130 people joined their neighbors to talk about what the book Ernie’s Ark’ meant to their community and them.”
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