Meet Our Grantee-Partner: One Book One New Orleans
One Book One New Orleans increases access to books and improves literacy skills through strategic outreach to adults with low literacy, adults and youth who are incarcerated, and those with visual impairment.
OBONO staff distributing copies of Mona Lisa Saloy’s BLACK CREOLE CHRONICLES at Orleans Parish Jail. Photo courtesy of One Book One New Orleans.
Mission: One Book One New Orleans is a nonprofit organization that supports literacy, builds community, and promotes meaningful dialogue between people of diverse backgrounds by calling on all New Orleanians to share the experience of reading and discussing a selected book each year, and providing literacy resources to organizations and individuals throughout our community.
One Book One New Orleans (OBONO) launched in 2004 as an effort of the New Orleans Young Leadership Council (YLC). It encouraged the community to read a selected book over six weeks with two events celebrating the collective reading. Over several years, OBONO built a network of partnerships that enabled the development of additional community programming and strategic distribution of the featured books to New Orleans residents who struggled to access literacy resources.
By 2016, OBONO operated year-round and had expanded to include a network of six outreach partners, hosting eight community events annually and requiring more than a thousand volunteer hours to manage successfully. Since it had reached its limit as a YLC initiative, project leader Megan Holt proposed that OBONO establish as a nonprofit organization, which was achieved on January 1, 2018.
OBONO believes that raising literacy rates improves the overall quality of life for every person in the community. Statistically, higher literacy rates are connected to lower rates of poverty, unemployment, incarceration, and domestic violence; and better healthcare outcomes and increased participation in the democratic process. To this end, OBONO increases access to books and improves literacy skills through strategic outreach to adults with low literacy, adults and youth who are incarcerated, and those with visual impairment. Its three central programs are:
- Citywide community reading and literacy outreach. OBONO selects one book annually and encourages the community to read it at the same time by distributing the selected book and corresponding curriculum to local community programs, including education programs for adults and people who are incarcerated. Free, family-friendly events centered around the book take place in neighborhoods throughout the city and typically include panel discussions, lectures, interactive reading, and storytelling. They are recorded and uploaded to YouTube, ensuring they are accessible to everyone regardless of their ability to attend. OBONO also partners with WRBH Reading Radio, which broadcasts an audio recording of the book for additional accessibility. Each year’s final event includes a showcase of arts-based projects from program participants.
- Collection and distribution of donated books. During the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, many lost access to books due to public school and library shutdowns. OBONO began collecting donated books and distributing them to community partners, like DePaul Community Health Center’s network of 10 free clinics and Little Free Libraries throughout New Orleans. This outreach continues to support the many organizations that request assistance delivering books to the people they serve.
Louisiana Poet Laureate Alison Pelegrin and OBONO director Megan Holt facilitating a poetry workshop at Orleans Parish Jail. Photo courtesy of One Book One New Orleans.
- Orleans Parish Jail library and book club. OBONO’s newest initiative began in January 2023 as a partnership with the Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office (OPSO). OBONO provides 100 books of different genres and reading levels to OPSO each month, ensuring a constant supply of new, diverse reading materials for those who are incarcerated there. OBONO also facilitates a quarterly book club that provides copies of a local author’s book and culminates in a discussion between incarcerated book club participants, OBONO’s executive director, and the book’s author, who visits the jail.
Despite its small size and limited budget, all OBONO programming is offered for free. The organization also recognizes that artists deserve compensation for their time and work. Receiving a Poetry Programs, Partnerships, and Innovation grant from the Poetry Foundation has allowed OBONO to continue offering free programming while providing participating artists an honorarium. Additionally, it enabled a boost in book distribution, including almost 100 books of poetry to the local jail and three visiting poets, two of whom participated in a book club and one who facilitated a workshop.
Connect with One Book One New Orleans (OBONO):