Rise Up & Read Together

Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café announces Rise Up and Read Together, a year-long program that invites all residents of Asheville to read the same book. Rise Up and Read Together is modeled on the “One City One Book” program, and is designed to build a sense of community and promote literacy. Like “One City One Book,” Asheville’s Rise Up and Read Together takes the idea of a localized book discussion club and expands it to cover an entire community. 

Asheville Mayor Esther Mannheimer said of Rise Up and Read Together: “This program is a way to expand the conversation that starts when families read together to neighborhoods, schools, faith institutions, community groups, retirement communities and the city as a whole. I hope this common ground of sharing will strengthen our community and create connections where there have been divides.” Emoke B’Racz, Malaprop’s owner and founder, added: “Malaprop’s has been a resource to the Asheville community since it opened its doors in 1982. Our mission has always been to create a welcoming environment in which all kinds of people can come together around words, books, and ideas."

The first “One City One Book” program was “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book,” in 1998, started at Seattle Public Library’s Washington Center for the Book. Since then, other communities have adopted similar initiatives and The Center for the Book at the Library of Congress tracks all known programs and the books they have used. Buncombe County had a “Together We Read” program in 2002 and 2003 that featured a book by a regional author in each of those two years.

Malaprop’s Bookstore/Café is an independent bookstore and café founded in Asheville, NC in 1982. We bring books, writers, and readers together in an environment that nurtures community, diversity, and the joy of reading. We carry a carefully curated selection of books for adults, children, and young adults, along with a large array of gift items. Author Ann Patchett, writing in the New York Times, said of us: “Malaprop’s was the heart and soul of Asheville, NC, when Asheville was a sleepy little hippie town, and it’s still its heart and soul now…”

March: Book One By John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Illustrator) Cover Image
By John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Illustrator)
$14.95
ISBN: 9781603093002
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Top Shelf Productions - August 13th, 2013