The Next Chapter: Library Revives One Book One Denver

After eleven years, One Book One Denver has opened a new chapter, with the selection finally revealed August 8: Stay True, by New Yorker staff writer Hua Tsu. Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Memoir or Autobiography, it follows Hsu’s college years in the 1990s, exploring the meaning of friendship, grief, memory and more.

It's not a Denver book or even one focusing on Colorado — and there are plenty of those worth reading — but none of the previous OBOD titles had much of a local hook, either.

Then-Mayor John Hickenlooper started the program that lasted almost a decade. "The whole point behind One Book One Denver was to create a stronger sense of community, not just in Denver, but across the metro area," he recalls. "The more people feel connected to a larger group, the more willing they are to take some risk and put in some effort for the good of the community. The dream was to instigate and perpetuate discussions around a single book as a way to bring the city together, and expand that sense of belonging to a larger group. Like a giant book club.

"We all thought it was a great success, but it came in a great cost," he adds. "Not so much the money, although we did raise funds to supply as many copies of the book to high school seniors as we could, but also to coordinate a wide variety of events at libraries, bookstores, schools, and even at laundramats."

After Hickenlooper moved to the governor's office — when he considered creating a statewide program, but "it just seemed like it would be a lot of squeeze for not enough juice" — the program focused on children's books under Mayor Michael Hancock, then fizzled out altogether in 2013.

But now it's back, and for adults — or ambitious teens — only.

According to Olivia Gallegos, communications director for the Denver Public Library, Mayor Michael Johnston's office approached then-DPL head Michelle Jeske last year about reviving One Book One Denver and taking over ownership. "Our team thought it was a great fit to bring the program over to the library," she says. "We saw an opportunity to reimagine it —centering adult readers, inviting creative collaboration, and using literature as a springboard for connection, well-being, and civic imagination...

"Adults in Denver are hungry for meaningful, low-pressure ways to engage with books and with each other," she continues. "OBOD is a response to that need. It’s not just a reading campaign — it’s a cultural initiative designed to meet adults where they are, in bookstores and galleries, at film screenings and zine workshops, on their lunch break or commute."

While the library is in charge, she notes that OBOD is a collaborative effort, with a citywide coalition of partners — ranging from Wax Trax Records to the Denver Zine Library to the Colorado Photographic Arts Center, which has already opened What Remains, a related photography exhibition exploring grief, memory,and identity — working on programming connected to the book and its themes.

Library expertise and community insight both contributed to the selection of the title, although DPL staff ultimately chose Stay True, Gallegos adds: "We selected this year’s book because it offers emotional depth, literary excellence and broad accessibility — qualities we felt were essential for relaunching a citywide reading campaign for adults. It’s a memoir about friendship, loss, identity and memory — universal themes that speak directly to the times we’re living in and resonate deeply across Denver."

With Nicolle Davies coming in as Denver's 11th city librarian and executive director this month, the DPL is in the process of creating a community advisory committee to help choose future titles and plan programming. In the meantime, you can read more about the book and over forty connected events this fall — including a screening of Enter the Dragon! — on the library website. "This isn’t just a book club," Gallegos concludes. "It’s a full cultural season for adult readers."

For the record, here are the previous One Book One Denver picks:

2005: Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger
2006: Caramelo, by Sandra Cisneros
2006: The Milagro Beanfield War, by John Nichols
2007: Articles of War, by Nick Arvin
2008: The Thin Man, by Dashiell Hammett
2009: To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
2010: The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
2011: The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein
2012: Enrique's Journey, by Sonia Nazario