As a child, going to the library with my mother was a beloved weekly event. I vividly remember browsing through the hard-copy card catalog and wandering the stacks searching for titles and subjects that seemed most interesting. I recall running my fingers over the bindings, and marveling at the sheer number of books and ideas held within the library’s relatively small walls. But today, a child is as likely to discover their first stories through another medium: video games.
Chicago Public Library (CPL) Commissioner Chris Brown mentioned a related statistic at this week’s festive One Book, One Chicago unveiling with Mayor Brandon Johnson at the Harold Washington Library Center. To paraphrase his remarks, the amount of money currently generated by the global video game industry is more than Hollywood movies, the music industry, and book publishing combined.
It would be understandable if Commissioner Brown and the dozens of librarians and library staff present at the event had lamented this development—but instead, the 2024 One Book, One Chicago selection leans into the themes of our increasingly digital world and celebrates the intersection of gaming, art, and literacy. The New York Times bestselling novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin is about friendship, love, and video game design, as well as our need to connect with one another, whatever the format.
Commissioner Brown spoke about these connections during the event, saying, “It’s our citywide read that unites us, through the power of literature and reading. And it’s been connecting us for over 20 years. One Book, One Chicago helps us build social connection… it celebrates reading, but most importantly, it celebrates a shared experience of reading.”
Kicking off that shared reading experience, CPL’s Harold Washington Library Center is holding its first-ever Silent Reading Soiree on Wednesday, September 25, from 5 to 7pm. Free refreshments, activities (of the quiet sort), and silent reading will fill the Winter Garden, and the first 50 people in attendance will receive a free copy of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow.
Later this fall, acclaimed author Gabrielle Zevin visits Chicago for a keynote conversation about her novel with Donna Seaman of Booklist on Thursday, November 14, from 6 to 7pm, at CPL’s Harold Washington Library Center. Doors open at 5:30pm, and seating is first come, first served. A book signing with Zevin follows the event, and a livestream of the conversation will be available on CPL’s YouTube channel and Facebook page.
"I'm deeply honored that my novel, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, has been chosen for the Chicago Public Library's One Book One Chicago program," said Gabrielle Zevin in a provided statement. "Tomorrow is partially about the difficulty (and necessity) of making human connections in our age: I believe that community reads programs help connect people. When we read the same book, we become connected to each other through that shared reading experience. Maybe we love a book, maybe we hate a book—the point is, we discuss a book and in so doing, we learn more about the way our fellow readers see the world. I hope the readers of Chicago will love Tomorrow, and I look forward to my visit in November!"
From September through December, CPL will explore Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow through dozens of programs, including gamer-writing workshops with StoryStudio Chicago, music performances inspired by classic video game soundtracks in partnership with Old Town School of Folk Music, community screenings of iconic video game-inspired films, and lectures on the history of video games in Chicago.
For more information on this year’s One Book, One Chicago events, visit chipublib.org/one-book-one-chicago.
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