What is One County, One Book?
Ventura County Library’s One County, One Book initiative aims to bring the community together for a common narrative. One County, One Book unites the members of the Ventura County community in order to spread interest and facilitate discussion about selected books. People across Ventura County read the same book and attend related events, such as book discussions, film screenings, and related talks. This program fulfills our goals of creating a sense of community, and engaging in lifelong learning.
We recommend companion book titles for children of all ages that explore similar themes, too, so that everyone may participate!
Multiple copies of the book are available at VCL locations and are checked out using an honor system.
2024 Selection
The Ventura County Library One County, One Book community reading title selection for 2024, was Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O'Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People by Tracy Kidder.
From the official description, “In Rough Sleepers, Kidder tells the story of Dr. Jim O’Connell, a gifted man who invented a community of care for a city’s unhoused population, including those who sleep on the streets—the ‘rough sleepers.’ After Jim O’Connell graduated from Harvard Medical School and was nearing the end of his residency at Massachusetts General, the hospital’s chief of medicine made a proposal: Would he defer a prestigious fellowship and spend a year helping to create an organization to bring health care to homeless citizens? That year turned into O’Connell’s life’s calling. Tracy Kidder spent five years following Dr. O’Connell and his colleagues as they work with thousands of homeless patients, some of whom we meet in this illuminating book.”
The One County, One Book programming took place during the month of September, and culminated with the second annual Ventura County Celebration of Books which featured the subject of Rough Sleepers, Dr. Jim O’Connell. This event took place on Saturday, October 12, on the campus of California State University, Channel Islands. Copies of Rough Sleepers will be available to borrow at your local Ventura County Library branch.
Please check this page for additional updates as we develop the 2025 year’s program, including information on sponsorship, book discussions, and other exciting events.
The Ventura County Library proudly presented our 2024 One County, One Book program, made possible through the generosity of our sponsors.
Ventura County Library Foundation (VCLF). Please visit www.vclibraryfoundation.org.
- 2024 Rough Sleepers - Tracy Kidder
- 2023 Solito - Javier Zamora
- 2022 Taste Makers - Mayukh Sen
- 2021 Your House will Pay - Steph Cha
- 2020 The Island of Sea Women - Lisa See
- 2019 The Library Book - Susan Orlean
- 2018 Barbarian Days - William Finnegan
