About Us

One Book, One New Orleans is a community wide reading program of the Young Leadership Council and the Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans.  One Book has a two part mission: we are a campaign for literacy and community.

During a reading period every year, One Book encourages residents of the Greater New Orleans Area aged 16 years and older to engage in the common endeavor of reading the same book at the same time. Our aim is that through this shared experience, residents from the different communities of Greater New Orleans come together and embrace their similarities by reading, discussing, and attending events relating to the same book. 

Our reading initiative seeks to raise awareness of the literacy issues facing Greater New Orleans.  By reading together as a community, we speak louder on the issue of literacy than a single voice ever could.  In doing so, even when we read silently to ourselves, we read aloud to our community.

Our past selections have been:

• A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines in Spring 2004
• Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America by John M. Barry in Spring 2005
• Coming Out the Door for the Ninth Ward by Nine Times Social and Pleasure Club in Fall 2007 
• City of Refuge by Tom Piazza in Fall 2008
• Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place At The New Orleans Table by Sara Roehen in Fall 2009

One Book, One New Orleans is presented by the Young Leadership Council in partnership with the Literacy Alliance of New Orleans.

The Young Leadership Council

The Young Leadership Council is a non-profit, non-partisan civic organization created to develop leadership through community projects.

Fulfilling that mission, the YLC has raised over $25 million dollars in support of community projects since its inception in 1986. The organization has more than 1,000 members and is led by a 25-member Board of Directors and four staff members. YLC volunteers “leave their mark” by operating community projects that focus on arts and culture, community service, economic and leadership development, youth education, and youth enrichment.

The Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans

The Literacy Alliance of Greater New Orleans is committed to creating a community-wide ownership of and response to the issue of adult literacy.  The purpose of the Literacy Alliance is to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of individuals throughout Greater New Orleans by ensuring that effective and innovative approaches to adult literacy are available to all and are supported by a committed community. The goal of One Book’s partnership with the Literacy Alliance is to increase community awareness of the literacy issues that face the Greater New Orleans Area.

Adult literacy in New Orleans according to the Literacy Alliance

Education is not just for our children.  Learning is lifelong and vital to our recovery and our individual fulfillment.  

In the Greater New Orleans Area, thirty percent of indiviudals aged 16 and older are struggling with basic literacy.  Their ability to help children with homework, complete a job application, find an intersection on a street map, read faith-based literature, or advance in the work place is severely limited.  Low literacy is a common thread connecting our community’s challenges, and everyone has a role in improving literacy.

• Our economic well-being depends on it: As education increases, the likelihood of employment and higher wages increase.
• Our families depend on it: The greatest predictor of a child’s future academic success is the literacy level of the child’s mother.
• Our neighborhoods depend on it: We need neighbors with the skills and resources to invest in our community as it rebuilds.