Edmonton Public Library launches free, online, city-wide book club

EDMONTON – Get ready for another first from the Edmonton Public Library. ‘One Book One Edmonton’ is a city-wide, online book club.

“This is the first time in Canada that a library has been able to offer a book for free in a serialized form like this,” said EPL branch manager Caroline Land.

EPL is working with BiblioCommons to provide free access to e-Book versions of ‘Etta and Otto and Russell and James,‘ the first novel by Edmonton author Emma Hooper, who studied at the University of Alberta.

The library wanted to invite as many people as possible to take part in the online book club beginning Tuesday, Oct. 6.

Then, every week for six weeks, another section of the book will be made available online. Readers can follow along using their computer, tablet or smartphone and interact with other readers about the novel.

“We’re hoping to achieve a sense of community,” said Land. “We want people to have conversations about this book, we want to hear what people think about the book, we want everyone talking.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We're hoping to achieve a sense of community," said Land. "We want people to have conversations about this book, we want to hear what people think about the book, we want everyone talking."

“We have a lot of really passionate people at the library, a lot of passionate readers, a lot of passionate people through our social media channels and so we want to connect them and have a really great conversation about ‘Etta and Otto and Russell and James.'”

WATCH: ‘One Book One Edmonton’ encourages all Edmontonians to read the same book, discuss it and participate in programs and events related to the book. Kent Morrison speaks to Pam Ryan about the project.

All you need to have in order to participate is a library card, which is free.

EPL will also be spurring conversation by hosting challenges and other interactive projects online.

“We’ll be having what we call ‘weekly missions’ which will be contests, but more than that, it’s a way of engaging with other people who are reading the book and with the library,” explained Land. “We’ll be asking questions or asking people to share information or photos on Facebook and Twitter for a chance to win great prizes.”

For more information on ‘One Book One Edmonton’ or to get the free e-book, visit EPL’s website.