People across Nebraska are encouraged to read the work of a Nebraskan —and then talk about it with their friends and neighbors. Prairie Forge: The Extraordinary Story of the Nebraska Scrap Metal Drive of World War II (Bison Books, 2014) by James J. Kimble is the 2021 One Book One Nebraska selection.
Prairie Forge: The Extraordinary Story of the Nebraska Scrap Metal Drive of World War II takes readers across the entire state of Nebraska during the scrap metal drive early in America’s involvement in World War II. When Henry Doorly initially developed a plan to urge citizens to donate scrap metal to help with arms production, he had no idea that his plan would expand from Omaha to the entire state and then be used as a model for a national scrap drive. Readers from the selection committee felt that this book would draw readers into good discussions about the entire state’s participation in the challenge to provide scrap metal. Readers were impressed that the book covered every county’s participation in the Nebraska Plan, and how this fit into the larger effort on a national level.
2021 will mark the seventeenth year of the One Book One Nebraska reading program, sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss one book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. The Nebraska Center for the Book invites recommendations for One Book One Nebraska book selection year-round at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/obon-nomination.asp.
One Book One Nebraska is sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and the Nebraska Library Commission. The Nebraska Center for the Book brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at and supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
