"People have embraced it," library
director Jane Shelton Merz said of the program that runs through
September. "It's grown bigger and better than I'd hoped."
The initiative, based on the "One Book,
One Community" model used in cities around the nation,
encourages residents to read the same book as a springboard
for discussion groups and other community events.
Richardson is the first city in the Dallas
area to start a "One Book" program, said Betty Bettacchi,
who is leading the effort.
She and other organizers say excitement is
building for the initiative they hope to make an annual event.
A recent training seminar for discussion group
leaders drew 23 participants, including many members of area
book clubs that have made Pay It Forward their reading selection.
Ms. Merz was pleased by the turnout. "I
thought if we had six that would be good," she said.
More than 100 copies of the $7.99 paperback
have been sold at Borders Books, Music & Café in
the Spanish Village Shopping Center. "I'm getting ready
to reorder," said Darlene Clayton, corporate sales representative.
While most customers are buying single copies,
she said, one teacher bought 20 for colleagues at her school.
After reading the book, organizers hope residents
will attend public discussions at several venues in coming
weeks.
A highlight of the program will be a Sept.
7 and 8 visit by author Catherine Ryan Hyde, who will give
a lecture at the Eisemann Center and discuss the book at a
luncheon hosted by the Richardson Woman's Club.
Pay It Forward was chosen by Richardson organizers
after they reviewed a number of literary options. This book,
which has been made into a movie, had a special appeal.
"There are a lot of adult themes in the
book, but the overall concept of 'paying it forward' is such
an uplifting idea that it just struck me immediately as something
I'd love to see happen in Richardson," said Ms. Merz,
a committee member.
That may already be starting to happen.
People have begun putting ideas for doing
good deeds on the "Richardson Reads One Book" Web
site – onebook.cor.net/ Homepage.html. – and there
is interest in starting an interfaith dialogue between area
churches and the Islamic Association of North Texas Dallas
Central Mosque.
With the current unrest in the world, "an
effort to do something good is really comforting," Ms.
Merz said. "I want the project to succeed, and I want
people to promise themselves that they will do a 'pay it forward'
act."
