Introduction

Dear Friends:

As Mayor and on behalf of the City of Chicago, I invite you to participate in the second One Book, One Chicago program. One Book, One Chicago encourages all Chicagoans to read the same book at the same time to create a kind of citywide book club. This year we have selected Night by Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel. We will read Night during the month of March and discuss it during National Library Week, April 14–20, 2002.

Night is Elie Wiesel’s powerful story of his experiences in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. The book discusses and tries to make sense of the unspeakable evil of the Holocaust and stresses that we must never forget this dark chapter in human history. Night also sends a clear message about the importance of understanding and accepting those with backgrounds different from one’s own.

One Book, One Chicago cultivates a culture of reading and discussion by bringing our diverse city together around one great book. Reading great literature provokes us to think about ourselves, our environment and our relationships. Talking about great literature with friends, family and neighbors often adds richness and depth to the experience of reading.

You can find a copy of Night at the Chicago Public Library, at your local bookstore or perhaps on your bookshelf at home. Whether you share your ideas with your neighbor or plan a book discussion group, I am sure you will find the experience to be enlightening and thought-provoking.

Thank you for your participation in One Book, One Chicago.

Richard M. Daley, Mayor
City of Chicago

Thank you for choosing Night for One Book, One Chicago.

I am touched by your kindness. That is my first book. Without it I would not have written those that followed.

Chicago as a city and community is special to me. I have been there at least once a year since the ’60s. I have close friends there in various circles: Jews and non-Jews, teachers and pupils, political personalities, police captains and officers…

Thanks to your magnificent gesture, I hope their number will increase.

With warmest wishes,
Elie Wiesel

How Can I Participate in One Book, One Chicago?

1. GET THE BOOK! Check out Night at any of the Chicago Public Library’s 78 locations or buy your own copy at many Chicago bookstores.
2. READ! During March, join your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and fellow Chicagoans in reading the same book—TOGETHER!
3. USE THIS RESOURCE GUIDE! A team of librarians developed this free resource guide for participants to use when organizing their discussion groups. Night resource guides are available at all Chicago Public Library locations and most bookstores.
4. DISCUSS! Join one of the Chicago Public Library book clubs or organize your own book discussion at your home, community center, park district, senior center, coffee house or place of worship and discuss Night.

National Library Week: April 14–20, 2002

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries across the country each April. It is a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation’s libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. Join us during National Library Week as the One Book, One Chicago program culminates with a series of special events.