Ready for book club, S.L.?

Move over, Oprah, Rocky's taking over.

No, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson isn't moving into talk show TV. He is initiating an Oprah-like book club he hopes will engage thousands along the Wasatch Front.

Following the lead of other cities such as Chicago and Seattle, which have had city book clubs for years, Salt Lake City will kick off its own book club Sept. 15 at Library Square.

"Instead of talking about TV shows, we want people to talk about books," Anderson's spokeswoman Deeda Seed said. "Books are so much more engaging than TV."

"Salt Lake Reads Together" is a bit more ambitious than clubs in other cities. While many started off with just one book, the mayor is starting with three — a juvenile fiction selection, an adult fiction selection and an adult non-fiction selection.

The titles, chosen by a mayoral committee, are "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH," "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" and "The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams: A Memoir."

Local bookseller Catherine Weller, who helped choose the titles, said they are suitable for all ages and are very readable. The committee is also working on making copies available in Spanish, so the city's burgeoning Hispanic population can participate.

"Literacy is declining and the amount of time people spend reading is declining," Weller said. "Everybody involved in this project thinks that reading and public involvement are very important."

A key goal of the club will be to spark community communication about the books. Around the office, on TRAX trains and over the backyard fence, advocates want to spark conversation between people who might not otherwise talk.

Studies show book readers are more involved in their communities, Weller said. So by increasing reading and communication, the city may create a more involved public.

"The goal is to link the two together: community involvement and reading," she said.

Seed said the city will even produce buttons for book clubbers to wear so other clubbers will know who is reading the books and can strike up conversation. The titles were picked, she said, because "each of these books address issues of diversity and community, so we think they will generate discussion."

Through a book club Web site, accessible through www.slcgov.com, participants can register and hook up for small book club discussions, post their thoughts online or attend larger book discussions at the city's library branches.

The Salt Lake City Library System will make extra copies of the books available, but assistant director Chip Ward expects they will go fast and encourages people to purchase their own copies, which local booksellers will have in paperbacks that may be slightly discounted.

"A lot of cities have done this and they've had a fairly positive experience," Ward said. "It's just one more opportunity for people to talk over the fence. It builds community that way."

The project, which has a small budget, may be funded in part by the mayor's office or by private partners, Seed said. The mayor's office is also talking with KUED Channel 7 about having some book discussions televised.

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E-mail: bsnyder@desnews.com