OBNJ News

One Book New Jersey News

"NEW JERSEYANS GET THEIR BARRENS"

Dan Weiss (left), director of the Fanwood (N.J.) Memorial Library, introduces Pulitzer Prize-winning author John McPhee January 21 at a press conference at the Princeton Public Library. Members of the New Jersey Library Association chose McPhee's book, "The Pine Barrens," as the adult selection in the state's One Book New Jersey 2004 reading program which runs through National Library Week, April 24-28. At the event, McPhee spoke about changes he has observed in the state's southern Pinelands since the book's publication in 1967.

(American Libraries Magazine, March 2004, New Fronts, p. 13)

"A friend from Princeton High School said, 'Why don't you do a book on the Pine Barrens?' And I said, 'The what ?'" - John McPhee

The March 2004 issue of New Jersey Monthly Magazine notes One Book New Jersey in its BOOKSHELF column (p. 26) and includes a photo of the cover of "The Pine Barrens". The text of the article reads:
One Book New Jersey (www.onebooknewjersey.org) is designed to bring people together by encouraging them to read the same books and participate in discussions and related events. Gatherings focused on The Pine Barrens and three other books chosen by the New Jersey Library Association will continue throughout the state until National Library Week, April 18-24.

The program's other books are: for ages twelve to eighteen, The Body of Christopher Creed, by Carol Plum-Ucci; for ages eight to twelve, Because of Winn-Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo; and for readers up to eight, How the Cat Swallowed Thunder, by Lloyd Alexander.

Thanks go to New Jersey Monthly staffer Chris Hann for covering the OBNJ Press Conference in January, and for generating this exposure for the program.

Why "The Pine Barrens" is New Jersey's One Book
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
By Stuart Mitchner

John McPhee's The Pine Barrens is an excellent One Book New Jersey choice. From now through April readers all over the state will be vicariously exploring what the New Jersey Library Association's special bookmark calls "the largest essentially untouched wilderness east of the Mississipi."

I have only one criticism, which I will dismiss even as I state it. I sometimes wished for a map. Of course "map" and "wilderness" are a contradiction in terms. The beauty of the Pine Barrens as McPhee presents it is that it resists the very notion of a map and not merely because it's a wilderness... The Town Topics article continued ... (click here).

* Ocean County Library Celebrates OBNJ 2004! *

Thanks go to the Ocean County Library for so enthusiastically supporting OBNJ with programs and events scheduled at most of its 19 branches.
Click here to check out their own OBNJ page.

* OBNJ Web Site Racks Up Impressive Stats! *

From the first day of its operation, the One Book New Jersey web site has continuously been monitored to collect statistics about its use. No specific user information has been collected, but the numbers of "hits" (or page visits by users) has been logged and tallied. It presents some interesting data.

From the moment the site went "live" at 11:20 a.m. on October 28, 2002, right up to 11:53 p.m. on January 30, 2004:
* There had been a total of 1,168,850 hits on the site.
* There had been an average of 2,543 hits per day.
* The busiest month (so far) was January, 2003, when the site was hit 247,253 times.
* The busiest time of day for the site was during the 2:00 p.m. hour.
* Users from domains that end with ".net" were the most frequent users.
* Information transmitted to all users totaled 21.32 gigabytes.
* And while most visitors to the site were from inside the United States, there have also been visitors from over 60 foreign countries.

Naturally, we think these are pretty impressive statistics. But we hope One Book New Jersey 2004 (and the web pages and programming and all the elements that comprise the program) will be of even more value and use to OBNJ participants in the future.

Thank you for visiting the web site, and thank you for your enthusiastic support of One Book New Jersey!

"Hits & Misses"
Saturday, January 24, 2004

"The richly deserved recognition afforded to John McPhee of Princeton by New Jersey librarians, who voted to make Mr. McPhee's 1967 "The Pine Barrens" the must-read work for adults in the state's second annual literacy promotion program, One Book New Jersey 2004."

Organizers kick off campaign at
the Princeton Public Library
Friday, January 23, 2004

The Pine Barrens region, often the stuff of myth and legend, will be highlighted and perhaps demystified as part of the One Book New Jersey reading and literacy campaign. The program's aim is to encourage New Jersey residents to read and discuss the same book, said Dan Weiss, chairman of the One Book New Jersey Committee and director of the Fanwood Memorial Library in Fanwood. The Princeton Packet article continued ... (click here).

Pine Barrens author feeds tree of literacy
Thursday, January 22, 2004
By ROBERT STERN Staff Writer

The lookout tower that stands sentinel over the Pine Barrens from deep inside the wilderness at the opening of John McPhee's 1967 nonfiction book, "The Pine Barrens," is long gone. But McPhee remains enchanted by the fire tower's location atop Bear Swamp Hill in Washington Township, southeastern Burlington County, just as librarians throughout New Jersey remain charmed by McPhee's writing. The Times article continued ... (click here).

'One Book New Jersey' stays close to home
Thursday, January 22, 2004
BY AMY ELLIS NUTT
Star-Ledger Staff

Curiousity might not be essential for a non-fiction writer, says John McPhee, "but it certainly would be a liability not to have it."
The Star-Ledger article continued...(click here).

Below are images from the OBNJ
'Kick-Off' Press Conference - January 21, 2004
To view the Press Conference Release (click here)

John McPhee listens to a question about his book,
"The Pine Barrens."

Judith Byron Schachner, illustrator of "The Cat Who Swallowed Thunder," reads from that book, written by children's author, Lloyd Alexander. "Cat" was selected as the OBNJ 2004 Young Readers Selection. John McPhee and Carleton Montgomery, Executive Director of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance listen in, along with several Princeton (NJ) PL patrons.

Carol Plum-Ucci, author of "The Body of Christopher Creed," Patricia Tumulty, Executive Director of NJLA, and Patricia Hannon, NJLA President for 2003/2004 and Director of the Emerson (NJ) Public Library, proudly wear their OBNJ 2004 pins. Plum-Ucci's book was chosen by NJ librarians as the YA Selection.

Carleton Montgomery, John McPhee, and Dan Weiss listen to Leslie Berger, Director of the Princeton (NJ) Public Library.

Members of the press and patrons of the Princeton (NJ) Public Library listen to remarks from Dan Weiss. In 2003 OBNJ generated 643 distinct programs across the Garden State. Naturally, OBNJ 2004 aims to exceed that number this year.

Below are images from the very first
OBNJ 2004 Event!

NJ Secretary of State Regena Thomas reads from "How The Cat Swallowed Thunder", the Young Readers & Listeners Selection for One Book New Jersey 2004. The event took place on October 8, 2003 at the Hamilton Public Library, making this the first official event for the 2004 program.

Anthony DeMarcello, Tyler Mallery, Rebecca Walker, and Gabrielle Principato, all second grade students at Lalor Elementary School in Trenton, join Secretary Thomas at the Hamilton Public Library. Thanks go to Lalor Principal James Fazzone and HPL librarian Sue Brozena for all their generous assistance and good will.

Helping celebrate this first OBNJ 2004 event are (from left) Norma Blake, NJ State Librarian; Patricia Tumulty, Executive Director, NJLA; Patricia Hannon, Director, Emerson (NJ) Public Library and 2003/2004 President, NJLA; Secretary Thomas; and Dan Weiss, Director, Fanwood (NJ) Memorial Library and Chair, One Book New Jersey 2004.