One Maryland One Book

One Maryland One Book will proceed in the fall. Please check our Events calendar for the latest status of activities and programming.

2020 One Maryland One Book Pick and Author Tour

book cover of The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

The Island of Sea Women chronicles the lives of two girls, Young-sook and Mi-ja, who are living on the Korean island, Jeju. Though having differences in family lineage, the two friends seem inseparable. Based during the Japanese occupation of the 1930’s and 1940’s,  World War II, and through the Korean War, their friendship is tested to the breaking point.

Learn More

 

Do not forget to join us for this year’s virtual Author Tour featuring Lisa See

This year, our One Maryland One Book author, Lisa See, will join us virtually at six different “stops” and we will be co-hosting with several local library systems across the state. Get your questions ready! Registration is required for all author tour stops. You must register to receive the event link. Click the button below and it will lead you to the registration page.

Register Here

What if everyone read one book at the same time?

Follow us on Facebook and subscribe to Maryland Humanities’ e-News to be the first to hear what we’ll be discussing across our state. Learn more about the criteria and process

To learn more about the selection process or past One Maryland One Book picks, visit the One Maryland One Book FAQ page.

Follow us on Facebook and subscribe to Maryland Humanities’ e-News to be the first to hear what we’ll be discussing across our state.

Questions? Contact Andrea Lewis at alewis@mdhumanities.org.

About One Maryland One Book

When we read a great book, we can’t wait to share the experience and talk about it with others. That’s one of the joys of reading.

In that spirit, Maryland Humanities created One Maryland One Book (OMOB) to bring together diverse people in communities across the state through the shared experience of reading the same book. We invite you to participate in book-centered discussions and related programs at public libraries, high schools, colleges, museums, bookstores, and community and senior centers around the state.

OMOB programs, including an author tour, take place each year in the fall. A calendar of free public events will be available online this summer.

FAQs
To learn more about the selection process or past One Maryland One Book programs, review our Frequently Asked Questions.

One Maryland One Book Lead Sponsors & Partner

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Enoch Pratt Free Library logo

One Maryland One Book Sponsors

Additional Support

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Activities in Baltimore City are funded in part by Mayor Jack Young and the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts.

This flagship program of Maryland Humanities’ Maryland Center for the Book would not be able to reach all 23 Maryland counties and Baltimore City without the continued support of our partners and sponsors. Please join us in thanking them for their generosity!

  • “Left on my own, I would choose the same kind of books over and over again. Now, [participating in One Maryland One Book,] my reading experience is broader and richer and all the more enjoyable.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 participant

  • “The discussion of the [2015 One Maryland One] book could not have been better. Everyone had a particular part of the story that touched them. One of the newcomers was an experienced rower and gave us wonderful insight into the physical and spiritual aspects of the sport. It is the first time in my ten years with this group that everyone loved the book.”

    One Maryland One Book 2015 participant

  • “[One Maryland One Book] is wonderful; enlightening, explorative, innovative, [and] educational.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 participant

  • “The OMOB 2014 selection seemed to touch the hearts of so many teachers and students. Everyone who read the story was in awe of the struggles, the will to survive, and then the motivation to write the memoir. The Distance Between Us created such an impact on each reader that s/he handed the book to someone with the request, “you must read this story!” Plus, the selection was inter-disciplinary and ‘captured’ students in all grade and academic levels. Renya Grande captivated the readers who, “couldn’t put the book down.” It is one of the best selections. Thank you!!”

    ​One Maryland One Book 2014 teacher

  • “[One Maryland One Book] taught me how much we need to talk and listen to one another.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 participant

  • “One student in my book club who is in a wheelchair and has a lot of other persona/home issues, was the first to finish the book, and wheeled herself into the library more than once to ask me if I had finished the book because she wanted to talk about it. She was a huge contributor to the discussion.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher

  • “The impact of this particular book was probably stronger than any other Maryland One Book due to the connections we could make with real world events and police brutality in the headlines. Many groups were reading and discussing the book at our school: Student Equity Team, Drama Club, Faculty book club, sociology and English classes. It fostered important discussions about race relations.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher

  • “[One Maryland One Book is] excellent! I come to as many of the One Maryland One Book events and will continue to do so—always pleased!”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 participant

  • “A sophomore on our school’s state-champ runner-up varsity football team was so taken by Joe’s story of the sophomore year on the boat that he got his dad (the coach) and several members of his team to read the book even though they weren’t assigned it in class. Another student described a discussion she got into with her math teacher after school about the relevance of the English curriculum and used her experience with Brown’s work and the field trip to convince her teacher that humanities are just as important as STEM. Great stuff!”

    ​One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher

  • “One of my students, a boy who works 35 hours a week at McDonalds, took the time to write me a letter stating the book had changed his life.”

    ​One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher

  • “We had our best attendance, ever, for a book discussion, in the seven years I’ve been here.”

    One Maryland One Book 2015 participant

  • “I distributed copies of the book and we engaged in an afterschool discussion which included students and staff. Everyone who participated was so engaged that our 45 minute planned discussion ended up stretching into an hour and a half!”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher

  • “My students have been removed from their home schools. Right away, they made comments about the diction of the text, how it seemed realistic to them and they pointed out words they would have changed. We talked about word choice, slang, etc. I had 2 instances where students were excited to see me because they had events similar to the book happen to them and they needed to tell someone. They want to know how to change things. […] These kids typically failed English class or were chronic non-attenders or were removed before they came here. They are excited about reading a book! Teacher librarian win!”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher

  • “This program is a gift, literally and figuratively!”

    One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher

  • “For most of my 10th grade students, this was the first book they have read from cover to cover.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher
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About Us
Maryland Humanities is a statewide, educational nonprofit organization that creates and supports educational experiences in the humanities that inspire all Marylanders to embrace lifelong learning, exchange ideas openly, and enrich their communities.
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