Home

Donate Sign Up For News

Explore Section

Contact Us About One Maryland One Book

Andrea Lewis, Director of Programs

(410) 685-6161

Facebook

Get #1MD1BK updates on our Maryland Center for the Book Facebook page

One Maryland One Book

Our pick for 2021 is The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay.

The Book of Delights is a collection of lyrical essays. Gay wrote one essay per day over a tumultuous year and took the time to find “delights” in his everyday life. The essays range in topic from the beauties in nature to what it is to be a black man in America. Readers can look to Gay’s collection as a guide to finding their own daily “delights.”

The theme for this year is “Hope.”

Learn more about this year’s pick

What if everyone read one book at the same time?

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.

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.

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

One Maryland One Book Sponsors

Additional Support

Activities in Baltimore City are funded in part by Mayor Brandon Scott 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!

“The school I am reporting on is designed as an alternative center for students who are not successful in the “regular” classrooms in our district. These students are challenged by a number of factors, including emotional problems, discipline issues, etc. This particular book was one that a number of students were able to relate to and engage with. As a consequence, students who do not normally read became active participants in both reading and discussing!”

One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher
“What a discussion! That what’s needed in every town, city, and every age group.”

One Maryland One Book 2016 participant
“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
“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
“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
“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 Maryland One Book] brings cross curricular teachers together to the library to read, discuss topics and social issues in the book. It’s a way for students to read good books without the pressure of an assignment.”

One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher
“I completed the book club with 22 students, all of them on the JV football team – so not your stereotypical group of book club attendees. On the last day of our book club experience I asked students for some feedback and also asked if they would be interested in participating in another book club. Nearly all of them said that this was the first time they had ever participated in a book club, and a few said it was the first time they had actually read an entire book. I keep hearing back from them, too, [asking] ‘When is the next book club starting up?’. The discussions we had were powerful and meaningful–this was truly one of the most moving experiences I have had as an educator.”

One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher
“[One Maryland One Book taught me that] these types of book discussions that include diverse populations across the state open necessary dialogues to help solve problems. We need to have many more.”

One Maryland One Book 2016 participant
“[One Maryland One Book] taught me how much we need to talk and listen to one another.”

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
“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 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
“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
“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

Share your feedback