The St. Joseph County Public Library’s 2018 One Book, One Michiana includes 38 scheduled events taking place across our community from April 1-30. This year’s One Book title is The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande. This book selection is a timely opportunity for our community—with its rich immigrant heritage—to engage in conversation by coming together to read the same book at the same time.
The community has come out in support of this year’s One Book, One Michiana with over 16 local businesses and organizations partnering with SJCPL to offer programming. Mayor Pete Buttigieg unveiled the book title at the Main Library on February 19, 2018, and spoke about the importance of coming together to read. Four members of the local Hispanic community—Sam Centellas, Christin Kloski, Felix Marquez, and Federico “Chico” Rodriguez—were featured in a series of READ posters and provided interviews about the book and their own immigration experiences.
A signature event of this month-long, community-wide reading celebration is El Otro Lado (The Other Side) with Reyna Grande on April 9, at 6:30 p.m., in the Main Library’s Humphreys Multimedia Room. In her presentation, One Book author Reyna Grande will focus on how writing transforms personal struggles and triumphs into shared, universal experiences that bridge gaps and remind us of how similar we all truly are. A short Q&A session and book signing will follow. Books will be available for purchase courtesy of Barnes & Noble. Registration required. Register online or call 574-282-4646.
