PORT TOWNSEND — For the first time in the 11-year history of the program, the selection for the 2016 Port Townsend Library Community Read is to be chosen by the community.
“This year we decided to make it a more inclusive process and opened up so the whole community would be involved in the choice of what to read,” said Library Director Melody Sky Eisler.
Community Read is a month-long activity during the month of March with meetings, discussion groups and often a visit from the book’s author.
The nominating process for next year’s selection took place from June 15 to July 13, and solicited 17 suggestions.
People can vote for one of the 17 or write in another choice online until July 31. The library then will announce the results.
To vote, go to http://tinyurl.com/PDN-communityread.
The survey is under the Speak Up Port Townsend button on the city’s website, http://www.cityofpt.us.
Those who lack access to a computer or who would rather vote the old-fashioned way can find paper ballots at the library at 1220 Lawrence St.
The selection must have regional appeal and be available in a variety of formats including audio and large print, Eisler said.
It’s also important that the author is available to visit during the event, she added.
If the author of the top choice isn’t available but the runner-up is, then library officials might go with the second choice, Eisler said, although she doesn’t want to overrule the majority choice.
Eisler said she is “very happy” with all the books that have been nominated.
“Any one of them would be a great community read,” she said.
Past selections include this year’s “Jupiter Pirates, Hunt for the Hydra” by Jason Fry; “Turn Here Sweet Corn” by Atina Diffley in 2014; “Contents May Have Shifted” by Pam Houston in 2013 and “Winterkill” by Craig Lesley in 2012.
As of Monday, the survey had drawn 113 responses.
Multiple votes are allowed because families often share a single computer, but Eisler hopes there is no ballot box stuffing.
“We’d like everyone to vote just once, but this is on the honor system,” she said.
Eisler said that all of the nominated books made it on to the list.
The books are:
“The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics” by Daniel James Brown, “Canada” by Richard Ford, “Divisadero” by Michael Ondaatje, “Dimestore Explorer: Adventures of an Impetuous Geographer” by Branan Ward, “Dream of the Circle of Women” by Dahti Blachard, “The Elegance of the Hedgehog” by Muriel Barbery and “Life After Life” by Kate Atkinson.
Also, “Loving Frank” by Nancy Horan, “Mink River” by Brian Doyle, “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency (Book 1)” by Alexander McCall Smith, “The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined” by Salman Khan, “The Orchardist” by Amanda Coplin and “Ozette: Excavating a Makah Whaling Village” by Ruth Kirk.
Also, “This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate” by Naomi Klein, “Saltwater Taffy” by Eric Delabarre, “The Western Flyer: Steinbeck’s Boat, the Sea of Cortez, and the Saga of Pacific Fisheries” by Kevin M. Bailey and “West of Here” by Jonathan Evison.
For more information, see www.ptpubliclibrary.org or phone 360-385-3181.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
