Community Collaboration - One Community, One Book

From February 28 through March 22, Van Horn Public Library and Pine Area People for the Arts (PAPA) collaborated to present Pine Island’s first One Town, One Title celebration. Throughout this series, all local residents were encouraged to read the novel Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon and then discuss the book and its central theme of autism with their neighbors. Discussion happened at the four One Town, One Title events, but also informal settings such as around the dinner table, at the grocery store, the bank, school, the post office – anywhere residents met their neighbors. Free copies of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time were available for residents to pick up at the kick-off event, as well as four local businesses. Copies to check out were also available at the library. Having the novel available at local businesses was definitely successful, as several of these merchants contacted the library multiple times needing additional copies of the book. One Town, One Title kicked off with a screening of the film Temple Grandin. This event was originally scheduled for Friday, February 22 but was postponed to February 28 due to a snow storm. Though the attendance was lower than originally planned for (likely caused by the rescheduling), those that did attend had nothing but positive things to say about the film. Participants are still talking about how powerful this movie was! The week of March 10, the library hosted two book discussions. Despite the first being held the same evening that Pine Island’s girls’ basketball team played in the state tournament, there was still a respectable sized group of participants that made for a very animated and enlightening discussion – which lasted until well after our host merchant closed. The second discussion drew a smaller, more intimate group – but each participant left the table with a new perspective of the novel and autism. Finally, on March 22, the One Town One Title celebration concluded with a presentation by local autism expert Dr. Bobbi Kostinec. Dr. Kostinec enthralled the attendees with the unique dual perspectives of a medical professional who has done extensive research on autism and a mother of two sons with this disorder. Participants had the chance to ask questions – which also encouraged extensive discussion amongst attendees.