Those with keen eyes may have noticed a mysterious poster slowly being revealed in the lobby of Driftwood Public Library and on its Facebook and web pages over the last couple weeks. On February 14th, library staff revealed the final pieces of the puzzle and are very excited to announce that this Spring the library will be sponsoring Lincoln City’s first ever community reads project, which they’re calling “Lincoln City Reads”. Scheduled to coincide with Lincoln City Community Days during the last week of April, the library has put together a series of events to encourage the community to read and discuss the same book: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan.
The project will kick off with an after-hours trivia party at the library on Friday, March 3rd at 7:00 pm, hosted by Mr. Bill of Mr. Bill’s Traveling Trivia Show. Refreshments will be served at the event, and copies of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore will be available to purchase at a deep discount. The library will also announce the lineup of events it has scheduled to take place during the week of April 23-29. Since 1998, when the Washington Center for the Book hosted author Russell Banks for four days of programs and discussion about his novel, The Sweet Hereafter, communities all over the United States have increasingly embraced the notion of civic unity through the reading of literature.
There are now statewide, citywide, countywide, and even country-wide reading programs all over the world. The staff at Driftwood have been toying with the idea of coming up with a similar program for Lincoln City for years, and over the course of the last 18-months have been working diligently at choosing a book and designing events for its inaugural foray into the “one book, one city” concept. The library staff hope to make this an annual event, with greater community participation in the selection of titles in coming years.
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore was chosen after weeks of discussion and voting because of its broad appeal, its light and positive tone, and its elements of fantasy, mystery, friendship and adventure combined in a look at the transition between new technology and old (not to mention cryptic codes, secret societies, puzzles, and other delicious elements of intrigue!). Published to many positive reviews in 2012, including in the New York Times, in which Roxane Gay wrote “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore is eminently enjoyable, full of warmth and intelligence.
Sloan balances a strong plot with philosophical questions about technology and books and the power both contain. The prose maintains an engaging pace as Clay, Mr. Penumbra and the quirky constellation of people around them try to determine what matters more — the solution to a problem or how that solution is achieved”, this first book by author Robin Sloan was a bestseller both in hardcover and in paperback. It was chosen as one of the 100 best books of 2012 by The San Francisco Chronicle and was a New York Times Editor’s Choice.
The library hopes that the community of Lincoln City and North Lincoln County will join them in this exciting adventure, and will enjoy the pleasures of reading and discussing a book with their fellow community members. More information will be available in coming weeks on the library’s webpage (www.driftwoodlib.org) and on their Facebook page (www.facebook.com/DriftwodPublicLibrary), as well as through the local news media. Any questions about the project can be directed to Ken Hobson at khobson@lincolncity.org, or at 541-996-1242.
Lincoln City Reads is sponsored, in part, by The Driftwood Library Foundation and Friends of Driftwood Library. Specific programs in the project will be sponsored by additional organizations. The library is located at 801 SW HWY 101, on the second floor of the City Hall building, adjacent to McKay’s Market (formerly Price ‘n Pride) and across the street from Burger King.
