15 Libraries and a Bookstore Get Together for One Book One Valley

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The 14th annual One Book One Valley, a community read program for the Mount Washington Valley and surrounding towns, will be held in 2019, and will once again be supported by a Community Project grant from New Hampshire Humanities. This year's book is Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt. Nutt is the Health, Science & Environment reporter for The Washington Post. She wrote this book to expand and follow up on an article about the Maines family’s story of raising and advocating for their transgender child.

During September and October, each library will host a book discussion and some will also hold programs related to the themes in the book. The culminating event will be an evening with the author on Thursday, October 24 at 7:00 pm at Kennett High School in North Conway. Other programs will include “Gender 101,” a film showing of Screaming Queens: The Riot at Compton’s Cafeteria followed by a facilitated discussion, a panel discussion with mental health and medical providers in partnership with Kennett High School’s GSTA (Gay/Straight/Transgender Alliance), “Ask a Transgender Person Anything,” and “No Cinderella Story,” historian Laura Hodgman’s account of an oral history project she conducted in the transgender community of Tacoma, WA. 

     Staff members from 15 public libraries and an independent bookstore, White Birch Books, worked together to plan this annual series of events. One Book One Valley’s mission is to strengthen community ties, promote literacy through reading, and encourage discussion of a common book with themes that resonate locally. 

     Program organizers chose Becoming Nicole for 2019 because it’s a good read, and to foster community conversations about gender identity, raising children in the 21st century, discrimination of marginalized populations, and the social, ethical, and philosophical considerations of these. Recent state legislation regarding transgender rights makes this a timely topic for learning more through community discussions and programs.  

     To learn more, visit www.onebookonevalley.org, or contact any of the participating libraries.