Baltimore has sadly struggled with violence. Beginning in 2018, the One Book Baltimore committee chose to select titles for young people that dealt with peace and nonviolence. Selected books have included Nic Stone’s Dear Martin (2018), Jason Reynolds’ Long Way Down (2019) and this year D. Watkins’ We Speak for Ourselves. Discussions and programming are held across the city sparking conversations focused on peace and how to promote change in our community.

• Book is selected by a committee of librarians and teachers.
• Free copy of book provided to 12,000 BCPS students annually.
• Discussion guide is created for teachers and the community through the library’s website.
• Library creates programming with schools and community.
• Author visits library branches & schools.
• One Book Baltimore Showcase (2019) is a culmination of student writing, performances and art.
• The launch will livestream through Zoom to the library's Facebook page and all programming will take place virtually (2020).

During 2019-2020, the International Arts + Mind Lab Brain Science Institute, Johns Hopkins University, joined our committee and conducted pre- and post-surveys of students, parents, teachers and librarians to see if reading the book had a positive impact. Their findings showed that the book was relevant to the students and the program has “the capacity to continue supporting young people in engaging with literary art, discussing difficult issues, and creatively sharing their own stories." Our local CBS station and Fox station covered this story.