#OneBookNY Campaign

New York City, or more specifically The Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment has recently announced it's One Book, One New York program which will encourage New Yorkers to read one book at the same time in an effort to promote literacy and unity. Through February, residents of the five boroughs will have a chance to vote on 5 book for the final pick:

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
2. Americanah byChimamanda Ngozi Adichie 
3. The Sellout by Paul Beatty
4. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
5. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

A variety of celebrities have partnered with buzzfeed to create promotional videos blurbing each book which you can check out here.

Adds have also popped up on the subway to promote this new initiative and New Yorkers can vote online or at the digital kiosks in the subway. New York is not the first city to try to to implement a One Book, On City program, it will however, be the largest one in the US. New York is definitely a bookish city and a program on this scale will be interested to follow and see if it takes off.

MOME commissioner Julie Menin commented on the program:

“Being that New York City is the epicenter of the publishing industry, it struck me that we should be doing something really significant to support the publishing industry, to promote literacy, and to support independent bookstores throughout the city. We want to make sure that in every single borough we are promoting literacy and supporting local bookstores.”
 
I love this initiative but am curious to see how it unfolds in practice. What do you think? Will you be participating?  What book will you vote for?