A New Orleans advocacy organization for literacy improvement wants the public’s help in selecting the next book for its citywide reading initiative. Participants can choose one of three books via an online poll as the One Book One New Orleans 2022 citywide read.

The three finalists all have connections to the University of New Orleans.

The University of New Orleans Press published two of the titles and the author of the third book is the director of UNO’s Creative Writing Workshop.

The organization, One Book One New Orleans, selects a book every year as part of its reading and literacy campaign. The group develops a curriculum around the selected title and through its partner organizations, distributes free copies of the book and the curriculum to community groups in New Orleans.

The goal is to have the community share the experience of reading the same book at the same time while providing literacy resources to adults and youngsters, according to the group.

The books are:
•    "The Big Door Prize" by M.O. Walsh, director of UNO’s Creative Writing Workshop.
•    "I Am New Orleans" edited by Kalamu Salaam and published by the UNO Press.
•    "I Feel to Believe" by Jarvis DeBerry and published by the UNO Press.

Readers have until July 25 to submit their choice via the online poll accessible here.