Read. Discuss. Experience.

The purpose of One Book, One Community, celebrated during October -- the month of the book -- is to encourage the community to share the experience of reading a single book and to discuss the issues raised by the author.

Watch the video with Timothy Egan discussing his book, "The Big Burn"

We hope you enjoyed Kitsap Regional Library's 2011 selection for our One Book, One Community celebration, The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America, by Timothy Egan.

"The Big Burn" was the fourth One Book selection by KRL, and the first time a non-fiction title has been chosen for our community read.

"The Big Burn" is the story of the largest forest fire in the history of the United States and how that fire led to the formation of a strong National Forest Service tasked with protecting the nation's public lands. The fire consumed about 3 million acres (an area the size of the state of Connecticut) in parts of Montana, Idaho and Northeastern Washington. It is also the story of a president, Teddy Roosevelt, and the man Roosevelt chose to become the nation's first forester, Gifford Pinchot, and their fight to preserve the national forests as a public resource in the face of Western commercial interests who sought to use the timber and minerals on those public lands to enhance their personal fortunes.

The One Book, One Community committee selected "The Big Burn" for 2011, citing Egan's compelling narrative, the connection of this story to our own local history, and the relevance of the issues it raises to today's debates over the use of public lands and the preservation/exploitation of our remaining natural resources.

One Book, One Community, the Program

To celebrate the Month of the Book every October, Kitsap Regional Library has chosen to engage the community in a discussion of a single book.

KRL programming leading into October, during that month, and for the first couple of weeks in November, is based on the chosen book and themes from the book.

We encourage you to join with us each year by reading the One Book selection and participating in programs and discussions about the book.

Our past book choices:

2010: Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

2009: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

2008: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee