Interested in Joining Mississauga’s Biggest Book Club?

Although reading is great at the best of times, it's particularly ideal on rainy summer days (we've been having a lot of those) and during those cool back-to-school months.

For that reason, you might be happy to hear that, as part of Canada 150 celebrations, the Mississauga Library System is launching a new city-wide library program called One Book, One Mississauga.

As for how it works, the program invites residents to read one book over the summer and participate in discussions about the book in the fall.

"One Book, One Mississauga encourages residents to read a particular book over the summer and participate in a variety of fall library programming that discusses the book in more details," said Rose Vespa, Director, Mississauga Library System, City of Mississauga. "This type of program allows residents to engage with each other while providing an opportunity to gain insights from each other's thoughts, feelings and opinions. The program also encourages literacy and promotes the importance and power of reading."

So, what book should you be grabbing at your local library?

Requiem by Frances Itani is program's featured book.

According to the Mississauga Library System, Requiem is a popular contemporary Canadian adult fiction book that traces the lives of a Japanese-Canadian family during and after their internment in the 1940s.

Residents interested in participating can check-out the book, in hard copy or eBook formats, at all 18 library locations.

"There's an interesting parallel that also comes with this program. We all live in the same city; have similar interactions and experiences with each other; however each of our stories is different," says Vespa. "The same notion happens with a program like One Book, One Mississauga. Each reader interprets things in their own way, even though everyone is reading the same book. That's what makes this program so powerful."

The book was chosen by a selection committee with members from Sheridan College, University of Toronto Mississauga, Heritage Mississauga, the Mississauga Public Library Board and the Mississauga Friends of the Library.

Frances Itani will participate in programs at different libraries in the fall to discuss the book with readers.

For more information about the program, visit mississauga.ca/library.