Geneva Library’s One Book, One Community, focuses on unlikely friendships

GENEVA – Unlikely friendships that ultimately are transforming is the theme in the Geneva Public Library’s second-year program series of One Book, One Community.

The adult book is “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt. It is about a friendship that develops between an elderly widow named Tova and an octopus named Marcellus. Tova takes a job cleaning a local aquarium at night, and Marcellus keeps escaping from his enclosure.

The children’s book, “The One and Only Ivan” by Katherine Applegate, is an illustrated novel about a captive gorilla named Ivan.

Information and Reader Services Coordinator Lauren Maxwell introduced the program and presented the Geneva City Council with copies of the books at a recent meeting.

“When we were looking for a book, we were looking for something with community themes and we were explicitly on the hunt for something full of joy,” Maxwell said. “And this book meets all of that criteria.”

Maxwell works on the adult services floor where staff organizes discussion groups and book clubs.

“And our major initiative this month is our One Book, One Community program,” Maxwell said. “We have a whole series of events centered around the whole community reading one book all at the same time. So instead of a simple book club, we’re inviting everyone in the community to read the same book at the same time. We know that our littles and our grownups generally find different things interesting, so this year we have selections for our upper elementary aged students as well as for adults.”

The library gave away more than 850 books – some still are available for checking out in the library lobby – as well as ebooks and audio, she said.

“Remarkably Bright Creatures” has a cast of characters who are unconnected, but when their lives intersect, they find friendship in unusual and unexpected places, Maxwell said.

From 4 to 5 p.m. March 10, there will be a communitywide panel discussion of “Remarkably Bright Creatures” that will include library Director Christine Lazaris, City Administrator Stephanie Dawkins and Geneva Park District Director Nicole Vickers.

Maxwell will be the facilitator. She will ask the panelists to share their thoughts on certain questions and then will open up the floor for comments.

“The One and Only Ivan” book party, which will include crafts, is from 10 a.m. to noon March 11.

Van Pelt will be at the library from 1:30 to 3 p.m. March 12 for a conversation about her writing process and characters. Maxwell said Van Pelt lives in Wheaton and will be available to sign books.

Through its annual book sales, the Friends of the Geneva Library donated $12,000 to support the program by giving the books away and hosting the author, Maxwell said.

“The value of One Book, One Community is to engage the whole community in a shared conversation at the same time,” Maxwell said. “It’s an opportunity to have a shared experience and meaningful conversations. Unlikely friendship is finding people you may not have expected and finding value in the connections to make with them.”

Last year’s One Book, One Community was “The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers” by Maxwell King.

“Last year, we talked about Mr. Rogers’ kindness and learning and being part of a neighborhood,” Maxwell said. “All of these community themes are important to bring people into the conversation – that our library serves everybody. We want to make sure we are creating a welcoming space and encouraging that community building.”

The library district serves more than 30,000 people. The program does not expect that many people, but Maxwell said they expect a good number of people in the community to be excited about it and tell their friends about it.

“You can talk about a book without reading every page,” Maxwell said. “That’s what’s really lovely and beautiful about reading as an experience. It doesn’t have to be the same experience for everybody. We are just really excited to make community connections and facilitate two neighbors to pick up the same book at the library.”

Last year, the library hosted “Victoria & Abdul,” a movie about the relationship between Queen Victoria and her young Indian attendant Abdul Karim in 1897, as well as the book “Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant” by Shrabani Basu.

“At the end of the program, I got to watch two program participants chat with each other. They had this shared experience of watching the moving and reading the book,” Maxwell said. “They made a coffee date and that was really lovely. And this is precisely what we want to do, give people an opportunity to connect.”

While book clubs often focus on plots and characters, the March 10 program will focus on how the community members felt as they read the book, Maxwell said.

“And what they take home with them and the bigger picture of having that shared experience,” Maxwell said. “I don’t know how many will show up, but we have seats for as many people who want to attend.”