How many times have you read/heard/thought/said something along the lines of “libraries are more than warehouses for books”? This statement is usually followed up with a description of some unexpected library service or program. At Sacramento Public Library, we say it all the time and proudly. Yet, after years of successful and well-attended One Book programs, our biggest book club was starting to feel … dusty—like something forklifted out of a book warehouse groaning under the weight of its own importance. Our challenge was to confront our own status quo—taking an already successful program series (if measured by attendance) and jolting new life into it. Our opportunity was to take a program the library believes in wholeheartedly and engender the same sentiment for the program within our community.

Our award winning in-house graphic designer, Laura Koivunen, collaborated with a local author and poet, John Allen Cann, to design The Slender Poe, an anthology of Edgar Allan Poe’s work with commentary by Cann. The book was printed by the I Street Press, the Library’s publishing house, which uses an Espresso Book Machine. Choosing to create the book ourselves meant that the library was able to offer the public a One Book tailored for this community. Stories and poems were chosen not just to highlight the best of Poe, but to tease out themes in Poe’s work with implications for our community. More than 300 copies of The Slender Poe have been sold to date, and the book is now available for purchase on Amazon, as well as in area bookstores. The Library also partnered with the Capital Films Art Alliance to sponsor The Poe Project , a film festival of locally made short films based upon or inspired by Poe’s work. Eleven films and seven screenplays were submitted and more than 950 community members attended the Festival. Another partner, New Helvetia Brewing Company, offered a new beer, Edgar Allan Porter, at library events and in their brewery during the month-long One Book celebration. These three homegrown elements (The Slender Poe, Poe Project, and Edgar Allan Porter) really proved to our community that their library is about more than book storage.

2013’s One Book program was successful on several levels: We reached new audiences for One Book programming, engaged with partners to offer events off-site and, most importantly, created content that will last far longer than the series itself (The Slender Poe and Poe Project films are both being used in area classrooms). One Book programming far surpassed the average system-wide adult program attendance—by 284%! The series promotion was recognized as a 2014 ADDY Gold Medal winner in the American Advertising Federation Sacramento Ad Club’s local level of the American Advertising Awards. Edgar Allan Porter was a sellout hit. Most tellingly, the feedback we heard most often about the program was a question: Can we do this again next year?