Partner With Us

Become a Program Partner with One Maryland One Book and receive reading guides, bookmarks, posters, and a chance for program funding.

1. Sign up!

The deal is simple: if you’ll put on a program that explore the themes and topics of our book, we’ll send you a batch of copies — for free. Fill out our Program Partner Form to sign up.

2. Distribute and promote!

Get the book to your audiences! Remind them when and where the event will take place. Be sure to get your event on our calendar as well, along with many other OMOB events happening across the state.

3. Discuss, engage, and learn!

Take in the truly “novel” experience of connecting with members in your community over the shared experience of reading the same book. There’s nothing else like it — and the diversity of perspectives and experiences each brings broaden what we take away from the page and each other.

Sign up to be Program Partner!

VIRTUAL INFORMATIONAL SESSION:
Partnering with OMOB 2025 — What We Collect, What We Tell
Registration Required.

Maryland Humanities is inviting cultural and educational organizations across the state to partner with us for the 2025 One Maryland One Book.

OMOB Partner organizations help spread the love and practice of literature by designing, leading, and promoting an event or program in conjunction with the OMOB theme and book in Fall 2025. This session welcomes both new and long-time OMOB partners!

The 2025 theme is What We Collect, What We Tell, which seeks to engage audiences on how we preserve stories. Come join us to discuss how your organization:

  • How does your organization collect or preserve community stories or histories?
    How are you interpreting and telling these stories for new audiences?
    What skills, crafts, or media can help you tell the story in a new way for today’s audience?

At the information session, you will get a chance to:

  • Learn about One Maryland One Book program and the Fall 2025 Author Tour.
  • Connect with other organizations in the state doing similar work.
  • Participate in a guided activity to brainstorm ideas for a program or event.
  • Discuss different types of collections and archives, and what formats, tools, or resources can bring it to the community.

We’re looking for local agencies, cultural institutions, and community organizations that:

  • Serve their cultural, regional, or faith/spiritual identities
  • Serve BIPOC, immigrant, and other ethnic minority identities
  • Collect, preserve, or store materials unique to their community
  • Work with media, press, and publishing
  • Preserve and promote local histories

*These are examples and not criteria – we embrace all sizes of organizations and interpret “collection” widely – – it can be physical, digital, or oral. It can be housed in a museum, library, storage unit, or an attic. And for memories waiting to be told…we hope this session might help you find the way to tell them.

Promotional Materials

Find images and language to use in your program promotion, including book cover, author bio, sponsor logos, and more.

Click Here for the Partner Package

Guides & Materials

Every year we work with educators and partners to bring you relevant information to enhance your reading of the One Maryland One Book. We produce a Reader’s Guide, Teacher’s Guide, and a Community Partner’s Toolkit.

These resources are created by Maryland Humanities along with community collaborators to provide information about the book, its context, and the author, as well as possible topics, themes, and activities for planning your programs, classrooms, and events.

Below you will find 2024’s guides and toolkit. Check back for 2025’s materials later this year.

Reader's Guide PDF
Teacher's Guide PDF
Community Partner Toolkit

Keep the conversation going with a book club

We love to hear about great conversations and stories of all the interesting book-related programs you attended. It’s not unusual for One Maryland One Book conversations to inspire participants to start a new book club. If you are interested in starting a book club, we recommend that you take a peek at the I love libraries website.

Want discussion questions or other materials to help get the conversation rolling? Contact Aditya Desai.

 

  • “What a discussion! That what’s needed in every town, city, and every age group.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 participant

  • “One student who has been held back several years and suffers from emotional disorders spent several minutes asking One Maryland One Book [author Daniel James Brown] questions. He very patiently listened and answered each question. He then signed her book: ‘Write with your heart not your head.’ To watch this interaction was very touching.”

    One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher

  • “I had two students participate who told me they’ve never finished a book before and they finished this one and want to read more!”

    ​One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher

  • “A sophomore on our school’s state-champ runner-up varsity football team was so taken by Joe’s story of the sophomore year on the boat that he got his dad (the coach) and several members of his team to read the book even though they weren’t assigned it in class. Another student described a discussion she got into with her math teacher after school about the relevance of the English curriculum and used her experience with Brown’s work and the field trip to convince her teacher that humanities are just as important as STEM. Great stuff!”

    ​One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher

  • “One student in my book club who is in a wheelchair and has a lot of other persona/home issues, was the first to finish the book, and wheeled herself into the library more than once to ask me if I had finished the book because she wanted to talk about it. She was a huge contributor to the discussion.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher

  • “I completed the book club with 22 students, all of them on the JV football team – so not your stereotypical group of book club attendees. On the last day of our book club experience I asked students for some feedback and also asked if they would be interested in participating in another book club. Nearly all of them said that this was the first time they had ever participated in a book club, and a few said it was the first time they had actually read an entire book. I keep hearing back from them, too, [asking] ‘When is the next book club starting up?’. The discussions we had were powerful and meaningful–this was truly one of the most moving experiences I have had as an educator.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher

  • “My students have been removed from their home schools. Right away, they made comments about the diction of the text, how it seemed realistic to them and they pointed out words they would have changed. We talked about word choice, slang, etc. I had 2 instances where students were excited to see me because they had events similar to the book happen to them and they needed to tell someone. They want to know how to change things. […] These kids typically failed English class or were chronic non-attenders or were removed before they came here. They are excited about reading a book! Teacher librarian win!”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher

  • “The OMOB 2014 selection seemed to touch the hearts of so many teachers and students. Everyone who read the story was in awe of the struggles, the will to survive, and then the motivation to write the memoir. The Distance Between Us created such an impact on each reader that s/he handed the book to someone with the request, “you must read this story!” Plus, the selection was inter-disciplinary and ‘captured’ students in all grade and academic levels. Renya Grande captivated the readers who, “couldn’t put the book down.” It is one of the best selections. Thank you!!”

    ​One Maryland One Book 2014 teacher

  • “[One Maryland One Book taught me that] these types of book discussions that include diverse populations across the state open necessary dialogues to help solve problems. We need to have many more.”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 participant

  • “The discussion of the [2015 One Maryland One] book could not have been better. Everyone had a particular part of the story that touched them. One of the newcomers was an experienced rower and gave us wonderful insight into the physical and spiritual aspects of the sport. It is the first time in my ten years with this group that everyone loved the book.”

    One Maryland One Book 2015 participant

  • “I distributed copies of the book and we engaged in an afterschool discussion which included students and staff. Everyone who participated was so engaged that our 45 minute planned discussion ended up stretching into an hour and a half!”

    One Maryland One Book 2016 teacher

  • “This program is a gift, literally and figuratively!”

    One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher

  • “The school I am reporting on is designed as an alternative center for students who are not successful in the “regular” classrooms in our district. These students are challenged by a number of factors, including emotional problems, discipline issues, etc. This particular book was one that a number of students were able to relate to and engage with. As a consequence, students who do not normally read became active participants in both reading and discussing!”

    One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher

  • “[One Maryland One Book] brings cross curricular teachers together to the library to read, discuss topics and social issues in the book. It’s a way for students to read good books without the pressure of an assignment.”

    One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher

  • “One of my students, a boy who works 35 hours a week at McDonalds, took the time to write me a letter stating the book had changed his life.”

    ​One Maryland One Book 2015 teacher
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